Mies Van Rooijen Alice Kremelberg (center) and Pilot Paisley-Rose (Photo by Michael Nie)
Reviewed by Molly McLean
Broadwater Main Stage
Through March 15
Damian O’Hare (left) and Alice Kremelberg (Photo by Michael Nie)
Ballybunion Backs Bill is a sitcom-tragedy. It’s Shameless meets A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. These two genres might seem disparate at first, but the two in tandem are meant to evoke the humor and love that flourished amidst the real threat of danger for Irish people at the end of the twentieth century.
This is a new play directed and written by Irish theater artist Seanie Sugrue, and set in his home county, Kerry. It’s September 1998, and Bill Clinton has arrived to golf in County Kerry not long after he’s admitted to lying about “sexual relations” with his intern, Monica Lewinsky.
Monica is also the name of the play’s protagonist, played with thrilling grace by Alice Kremelberg. Roger Hassett (Phil Burke), the town’s big shot, has asked her to cover up the sign outside her shop that says “Monica’s Shoe Repair” for the duration of Clinton’s visit, lest the President be embarrassed by the name. But she doesn’t stand for this. She plainly tells Burke just where they could put their Clinton statue. This incites in him a need to reassert his power.
Her two children (Mies van Rooijen and David Daniel Offner) also are giving her grief. They’re on the verge of moving out of Ballybunion and leaving Monica with only with her ancestors in the graveyard as company. Luckily, Clinton’s visit blesses her with a tall Secret Service agent that services her secretly.
The set (Evan Hammer) resembles a cozy multi-cam set. It has a door to the outside that is never locked, and functions as the family’s place of business as well as their home. This sets the play up for a variety of comedic situations.
But unlike a sitcom, the play does not end well. Here is where the juxtaposition of sitcom humor and heavy duty drama fails to land. The audience is left unprepared for the ending.
Jim Petty’s banshee sound design sets up the last scene well. Mies van Rooijen is great as Monica’s daughter, bantering with her mother with lots of love and in a confident, relaxed voice.
Combining comedy and drama can be fruitful. Here, however, the dual tones of the play cancel each other out.
Locked in the Attic Productions and Five OHM Productions, Broadwater Main Stage, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 pm, Sun., 3 pm; thru March 15. Running time: 2 hours. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ballybunion-backs-bill-tickets-1978339345237?aff=oddtdtcreator
