Port Authority (Irish Repertory Theatre)

“I don’t know if I’m happy or sad,” says Joe, one of the trio of lost souls who make up the cast of Port Authority. He could be speaking for all of them. The lovelorn Kevin; terrified, alcoholic Dermot; and the elderly Joe all have stories to tell about themselves, the main themes being choices not made and crucial moments missed. Most of the time, effective drama hinges on action, the conflict of opposing forces; here, Conor McPherson makes magic from characters recalling the moment when the door of possibility slammed shut. The men of Port Authority describe their failures with a kind of plainspoken poetry that lays bare their souls for all to see. Kevin recalls moving, against his parents’ wishes, into an apartment in Dublin with three roommates. With no job and no particular goals, he admits, wryly, it “was like pretending to make a decision.” He shares the place with two male friends and the beautiful Clare, whose boyfriends are “rich and spoiled and better-looking than us.” Yet, even when he falls into an agreeably erotic relationship with a waitress/college student name Trish, there is a connection between him and Clare that both silently acknowledge yet are unwilling to disturb.