The actor John Keating can be a tall bag of bones with fright-wig hair and frightened-deer eyes, a glance designed for character areas. That he nabs the guide part in Laoisa Sexton’s “The Pigeon in the Taj Mahal” on the Irish Repertory Theater is motive ample to determine it, even if the Enjoy’s protracted execution wears out the prickly allure of its premise.
Mr. Keating plays the Pigeon on the title, a sweater-clad, Elvis-quoting naïf who life in a trailer park in rural Ireland. Is he lonesome tonight? Not precisely. But he’s Plainly thrilled to find a youthful lady in smeared makeup and ripped tulle dumped on his doorstep. “You might have the uncommon attractiveness,” he claims to her unconscious sort. “Like a âm đạo giả swan inside of a filthy lake!” This really is Lolly (Ms. Sexton), a plastered bride-to-be overdosed on vodka and system glitter. On waking, she 1st threatens Pigeon that has a hammer after which you can softens at his odd hospitality.
After Lolly is kind of awake, Ms. Sexton has good exciting contrasting her shallow metropolis designs with Pigeon’s callow ways. “D’you got apple iphone, d’you need to do?” she whines. “I cell phone?” the perplexed Pigeon asks. But as they continue to be while in the trailer, the play begins to spin its motionless wheels. There’s a lot of dialogue and plenty of depredation, In particular the moment An additional bachelorette (Zoë Watkins) comes, but acquiring put these characters together, Ms. Sexton as well as director, Alan Cox, don’t know fairly what to do with them. Irrespective of a persistent theme of innocence and expertise, and some questions on the position of folklore in up to date Ireland, “The Pigeon in the Taj Mahal” typically looks like a one particular-act that outgrew itself. Rather less dialogue wouldn’t harm.
But motion fears Ms. Sexton far fewer than providing a vigorous, from time to time vulgar showcase for herself and the other actors. A deft performer, she clearly enjoys Lolly’s woozy, crude obliviousness, but she's equally as happy to cede the phase to Mr. Keating. Pigeon isn’t a wholly credible character, but Mr. Keating lends him warmth and a mild sort of bravery, even though carrying lipstick as well as a penis headband. Cheers to Ms. Sexton for allowing this distinct actor distribute his wings.