“Outside Mullingar”

[rating=3] Citadel Theatre in Lake Forest is now doing a small, intimate love story. While it is very Irish, it is very well done and despite the brogues, they four actors are very easy to understand.  The story is quite simple. It is about a boy and a girl, who had a tiff many years earlier, neighbors, in a rural farm community of Ireland. Anthony (Ross Frawley) , a few years older than Rosemary ( deftly handled by Laura Leonardo Ownby)are both introverts. Each lives with one remaining parent and neither has married.

As the story evolves ( 90 plus minutes/no intermission) over  7 scenes, we learn about the problem that took place years earlier. Often a little boy will push or shove a little girl, out of love, not evil, but because they are children, it goes misunderstood. As the years go by these feelings might be buried, but not so deep that there is nothing there. In this case John Patrick Shanely  has created a love between the boy and the girl, and while she admits her love, he cannot ( until much later when he reveals many dark secrets)

She is very open with her mother , Aoife ( played to perfection by Susan Hofflader) and his father, Tony ( a fine Irish gentleman farmer played by Jack Hickey who reminded me of the people I met in Limerick back in the 1960’s). Director Beth Wolf takes us on this journey into the lives of these people. We learn of some revenge on the part of Rosemary who buys the land rights to the farm owned by Tony. We learn about her desire for her tormenter and we learn about Tony’s threatening his son to be disinherited because of the feud.

Those of you who have attended Citadel Theatre know that the venue is small and intimate and the stage area quite small. Eric Luchen has created a set that works very well. It has three distinct sections. The costumes ( Cindy Moon) are quite Irish and the props (Anna Marie Durham) amazing. The lighting (Samuel Stephens) and sound (Stefanie M. Senior) allow for the moods that Wolf wanted us to see.

This is a delightful experience for a theater audience, young and old. Again, accents are hard for some, but this cast is far superior to others I have seen attempt this play. It is a nice diversion from all the stuff we see on television and with free parking and only 90 minutes in the theater, the perfect way to get back to attending “live” productions again.

“Outside Mullingar” will continue at Citadel Theatre located at 300 S. Waukegan Rd. in Lake Forest thru March 13th with performances as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  8 p.m.

Saturdays  8 p.m.

Sundays 3 p.m.

Wednesday, February 16th a 1 p.m. matinee

Tickets range from $40-$50 and can be ordered by visiting www.citadeltheatre.org

call 847-735-8554 ext 1

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Outside Mullingar:.