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A Couple of Blaguards
By Jana J. Monji
While The Weir is a subtle weave of feelings, the Off-Broadway
production, A Couple of Blaguards, is a one-note, high decibel account of
Irish immigrants played for laughs.
If you're lured by the promise of the Pulitzer prize-winning Angela's
Ashes, you'll be disappointed. Frank McCourt's autobiographical account of
his Depression-era childhood split between Brooklyn and then Limerick,
Ireland has the ache of tragedy, softened with a storyteller's sweet lilt.
His younger brother, Malachy, wrote A Monk Swimming, detailing Malachy's
young adulthood, returning to America and beyond.
Frank and Malachy both originally performed this bill of stories, music and
poetry. It's hard to say if their performances may have made a difference,
not having seen them serving up anecdotes that would eventually form their
books.
In the current production at the Triad, Mickey Kelly and Shay Duffin wink
and mug for an almost boastful regaling of tales. Nothing threatens to ruin
your appetite in this cabaret-style setting, but nothing really touches your
heart.
A Couple of Blaguards, Triad,158 West 72nd Street, New York, NY.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Saturdays, 3
p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. $40-$42.50. (212) 799-4599
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