Outside Mullingar
Opening Night: January 23, 2014
Closing: March 16, 2014
Theater: Samuel J. Friedman
Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that—due to his painful shyness—suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him, watching the years slip away. With Anthony’s father threatening to disinherit him and a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe. But then, in this very Irish story with a surprising depth of poetic passion, these yearning, eccentric souls fight their way towards solid ground and some kind of happiness.
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January 23, 2014
Playwright John Patrick Shanley, who achieved phenomenal success with his compelling, Pulitzer-winning drama Doubt and its starry film version, has been far less lucky with his subsequent plays. Defiance and Storefront Church, which completed his politically-oriented "Church and State" trilogy that began with Doubt, turned out to be far weaker works. And Romantic Poetry, a tender-hearted musical which Shanley directed and also wrote book and lyrics for, was absolutely awful. So it’s not surprising to find Shanley going in a new direction with Outside Mullingar, a sentimental mix of family drama, romantic comedy and Irish accents.
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January 23, 2014
Debra Messing slides effortlessly into a foursome of Irish actors in the wistful Outside Mullingar, a new romantic comedy — that is, by the time it resolves an identity crisis — from award-winning writer John Patrick Shanley (Doubt). A world premiere, Mullingar has just opened at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
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January 23, 2014
Hitting a sweet spot that recalls his Oscar-winning screenplay for Moonstruck, John Patrick Shanley’s Outside Mullingar is a charmer of a play about a hesitant romance stalled by petty grievances and misunderstandings. Unapologetic sentimentality without too much treacle isn’t easy to do, but the playwright pulls it off with confidence. In his first work set in Ireland, he lovingly tends the roots and tills the soil of his ancestry, spinning a tale suffused with melancholy humor and a deep yearning for heart, home, land, faith and a sense of belonging. It also provides wonderful roles for Brian F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing, the latter making her Broadway debut.
READ THE REVIEWJanuary 23, 2014
Debra Messing and Brian F. O’Byrne are so, what’s a more grown-up word for adorable? — charming? irresistible? combustible? — together that we wish this romantic comedy would go on for hours. The problem is that Outside Mullingar is only a romantic comedy for the last altogether enchanting scene. For the rest of John Patrick Shanley’s 95-minute oddity, we are thrust into some cartoon universe, where rural Irish folk speak wisdom in kooky locutions, fester on peculiar grudges and debate whether shy, middle-aged, hardworking Anthony Reilly (O’Byrne) loves the farm enough to inherit it from his cranky old dad.
READ THE REVIEWJanuary 23, 2014
Judging from the lonesome, relationship-phobic Irish farmers at the center of John Patrick Shanley’s sweet put peculiar new comedy Outside Mullingar, it’s a wonder that the Irish ever gained a reputation for large families. Anthony (Brían F. O’Byrne) is a 40-something glumly tending his family’s farm, still smarting from the rejection of a girl when he was 16. Rosemary (Debra Messing) is the proverbial girl next door, a 30-something on the verge of spinsterhood though she’s been carrying a passive-aggressive torch for Anthony since she was 6.
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January 23, 2014
The rain pours down in steady streams, shrouding in gloom the Irish countryside of Outside Mullingar, the new play by John Patrick Shanley that opened on Thursday night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater. Gloomy, too, is the talk of lost loves, deaths and other grim subjects dear to the hearts of the Irish, or at least those who populate Broadway stages. As is also regularly the case in plays set there, the reaper will pay a house call before the curtain has fallen.
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