AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

The stakes are high and so is the level of performance in a Christmas-eve, winner-take-soul poker game with the devil in Connor McPherson’s The Seafarer which opens the season for Hartford’s TheaterWorks.

Shaky Harkin (Dean Nolen) lost a long-ago bet with Mr. Lockhart (a.k.a. the devil played by Allen McCullough) and now it’s time to pay up. Unknowingly involved in the life-and-death game are Shark’s overly dependent blind brother, Richard (Edmond Genets), his humorously inebriated friend Ivan (John Ahlen in a cork-popping performance), and Richard’s friend, Nicky (Chris Gene Bach), who also happens to be seeing Shark’s ex wife.

Much like the Old English poem for which it is named, The Seafarer deals with themes of exile, hardship and sorrow and a soul’s readiness to face death. Sharky, constantly reminded of his shortcomings by Richard, is trying to stay off the bottle while the others drink to drown the despair brought on by personal losses. The Faustian plot and depressing state of the characters’ lives might prove too oppressive if not for the hope and humor infused in McPherson’s script and for Henry Wishcamper’s brisk pace and direction which allows the actors room to develop the Irish mates into more than stereotypes.

Lockhart evolves from a harmless “guy next door,” persona into a tormenting teeth-gnashing demon who can’t wait to devour his pray and take him to a hell. At the same time, he also shows regret at not being able to return to heaven -- a complicated characterization skillfully executed by McCullough. Richard, with his demoralizing comments and unmasked glee over his brother’s fall off the wagon, seems more like the devil than Lockhart at times, but Genest manages to keep him from becoming totally unsympathetic. Genebach provides some stability for the quirkiness of the other characters and Nolen aptly depicts Sharky’s emotions from condemnation to redemption.

Ahlin already has us laughing at Ivan’s every move and word, so when he provides a life-saving twist for Sharky at the end of the game, we want to pat him on the back and offer him an ale.

Adrian W. Jones’ set, Anne Kenney’s costumes and lighting and sound design by Matthew Richards and Bart Fasbender successfully covey the squalor and dismal lives of the men.

---- Lauren Yarger

The Seafarer plays at City Arts on Pearl (233 Pearl Street, Hartford) through Dec. 21. Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: General admission $37 for weeknights and matinees; $47 for Friday and Saturday evenings; center reserved seats $11 extra; and college student rush tickets $11 can be purchased by calling (860) 527-7838 or by visiting www.theaterworkshartford.org.