Encountering, Avoiding Truths

For the first meeting with his therapist, Ian, John walks into a shabby Dublin office.  He describes his wife’s death in a horrific car accident two months earlier and her ghastly visitations to their home. Thus begins Conor McPherson’s gripping drama, “Shining City,” at Barrington Stage Company.  

As John (Wilbur Edwin Henry) reveals his story, we witness a man avoiding truths about himself and his marriage while seeking help from Ian.  The therapist (Mark H. Dold) is also conflicted regarding his recent departure from the priesthood and his relationship with his fiancée Neasa (Deanna Gibson,) the mother of his daughter. The three of them, along with Laurence (Patrick Ball) a homeless young man, are needy and lost in lives they can’t control.  

McPherson, one of contemporary theater’s most notable writers, has fashioned a play that slowly peels away walls as the characters strive to accept the state of their lives.  Each is alone,  not facing truth and not knowing what tomorrow will bring.  Ironically, it is Ian the healer who, unknowingly, needs the most care.

Running for approximately 100 minutes without an intermission, the audience watches as if at a peephole. Through the combination of McPherson’s incisive script and a talented cast we hear dialogue that sounds like our own conversations with its convoluted sentences, interrupted thoughts, and the repetitive “y’ know.”  John has a ten-minute monologue that keeps the audience rapt with occasional nervous laughter.  

This is an engrossing production seamlessly directed with sensitivity and skill by BSC’s associate artist Christopher Innvar.  Though the conversations and several monologues could become rambling, Innvar drives the play so that the characters, sympathetic but not very likable, are brought to life.  

The cast is superb. Their Irish accents, which they maintain consistently, help to craft an atmosphere that hovers throughout the play.  The actors have created believable people living in corrosive desperation.  Brian Prather’s well-worn set adds to the claustrophobic lives of the characters.

Everything in this production — the direction, the acting, the technical elements — works together to create a memorable experience. Though the summer season is young, “Shining City” is likely one of the best productions the Berkshires will offer.

“Shining City” runs at Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage in Pittsfield, MA, through July 11. Tickets: 413-236-8888 or go to www.barringtonstageco.org.