The actor John Keating can be a tall bag of bones with fright-wig hair and frightened-deer eyes, a glance constructed for character components. That he nabs the guide purpose in Laoisa Sexton’s am dao gia “The Pigeon within the Taj Mahal” in the Irish Repertory Theater is motive more than enough to find out it, whether or not the Engage in’s protracted execution wears out the prickly charm of its premise.
Mr. Keating plays the Pigeon from the title, a sweater-clad, Elvis-quoting naïfile who life in a trailer park in rural Eire. Is he lonesome tonight? Not specifically. But he’s Plainly thrilled to locate a younger girl in smeared make-up and ripped tulle dumped on his doorstep. “You may have the uncommon magnificence,” he states to her unconscious variety. “Similar to a swan within a dirty lake!” This is often Lolly (Ms. Sexton), a plastered bride-to-be overdosed on vodka and entire body glitter. On waking, she very first threatens Pigeon using a hammer then softens at his odd hospitality.
The moment Lolly is more or less awake, Ms. Sexton has good fun contrasting her shallow town styles with Pigeon’s callow approaches. “D’you bought apple iphone, d’you are doing?” she whines. “I cell phone?” the perplexed Pigeon asks. But as they continue to be within the trailer, the Enjoy begins to spin its motionless wheels. There’s many dialogue and lots of depredation, especially at the time One more bachelorette (Zoë Watkins) arrives, but having put these figures collectively, Ms. Sexton as well as director, Alan Cox, don’t know very what to do with them. Regardless of a persistent theme of innocence and working experience, plus some questions about the location of folklore in up to date Eire, “The Pigeon from the Taj Mahal” largely feels like a a single-act that outgrew itself. A little less conversation wouldn’t harm.
But motion worries Ms. Sexton significantly less than offering a vigorous, often vulgar showcase for herself and one other actors. A deft performer, she Obviously enjoys Lolly’s woozy, crude obliviousness, but she's equally as content to cede the phase to Mr. Keating. Pigeon isn’t an entirely credible character, but Mr. Keating lends him warmth and a mild style of bravery, even even though sporting lipstick along with a penis headband. Cheers to Ms. Sexton for letting this distinct actor distribute his wings.