Just before Christmas 2007, I saw, and loved, and posted about the Broadway production of Conor McPherson's play, "The Seafarer." The play's Washington debut is going on at the Studio Theatre. I guess you never forget your first Seafarer, because I found myself comparing it to the New York production, and finding it a bit wanting. But the play itself is great no matter the production, and many of the performances are fine. Floyd King is terrific as the difficult, blind, drunkard brother Richard, but the whole time he reminded me of Floyd King, whereas the Richard in the New York production reminded me of a crotchety version of my Uncle Charlie. Edward Gero, who also appeared in McPherson's "Shining City" at Studio, was very good as Ivan, but I missed the oddball antics of my first Ivan. And I've always been a big fan of Ciarán Hinds, who created an elegant and sinister Mr. Lockhart in the Broadway show; the actor in the Studio version seemed to be doing an impersonation of Hinds, which didn't quite work. As The Washington Post review said:
Though I didn't love this production as much as I did the first one I saw, it's a wonderful play, and it still made me laugh out loud (when I wasn't having a coughing fit -- my apologies to anyone seated near me), such as when Richard says, after an overly dramatic departing speech by Mr. Lockhart, "Well, that is one maudlin f[expletive deleted]er." (You probably had to be there.)
"The Seafarer" will be at Studio through February 22. If you're interested, I suggest calling the box office rather than ordering online. I was able to turn up seats by phone that didn't appear online.
Studio Theatre
1501 14th Street, NW (at P Street)
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 332-3300
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