![\"seafarer\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/seafarer.jpg\" "\\"seafarer\\"")
<\/a> It\u2019s Christmas Eve in a North Dublin home. One by one, four men gather to make merry with the \u201cspirits\u201d of the holiday. The last to arrive brings along Mr. Lockhart, who seems, from his attire and speech, to be of another time and place. Indeed he is, in Conor McPherson\u2019s 2007 Broadway play, \u201cThe Seafarer,\u201d which continues through December 13 at San Diego Repertory Theatre.<\/p>\nIn a rare onstage appearance, Rep co-founder and Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse portrays Lockhart, a man with a mission. Though not immediately apparent, the mission becomes obvious. The message, according to the playwright, is that all, even fallen angels, have an innate need for love and redemption. In an interview with Woodhouse, McPherson said, \u201cIt is in our DNA to want to reach for the beyond, to be comforted by the great mother universal, by a pat on the head from God.\u201d That is the underlying message of this profound and profane work, the tone of which the ensemble brings home under the direction of Delicia Turner Sonnenberg.<\/p>\n
McPherson, Dublin-born in 1971, wrote the Olivier Award-winning \u201cThe Weir\u201d and is a successful screenwriter. The play is dark and funny and rife with gabby Irishmen (Ron Choularton, Paul James Kruse, Armin Shimerman and Robert J. Townsend), who indulge Mr. Lockhart with a game of poker with stakes much higher than the antes would indicate.<\/p>\n
Choularton is absolutely delicious as James \u201cSharky\u201d Harkin, an unkempt, beaten-down ne\u2019er-do-well who has come to care for his older, even more unkempt brother, Richard (Shimerman). Richard has recently suffered an accident that\u2019s left him blind. Both the caretaker and his unfortunate brother are cantankerous and angry. The quality of Shimerman\u2019s acting here is awesome. Rep audiences remember him as the Fool in \u201cKing Lear.\u201d TV audiences remember him most vividly as Quark in \u201cStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.\u201d So easy is Choularton and Shimerman\u2019s repartee that one could easily mistake them for blood brothers.<\/p>\n
Sharky, who has lost his girlfriend and his car to the dashing Nicky (the yummy Townsend), welcomes him to the gathering grudgingly. The fourth guest, Ivan Curry (funny and pathetic Kruse) is a jovial, well-meaning dolt who has misplaced his glasses.<\/p>\n
Special mention must be made of James Newcomb\u2019s fight direction (Shimerman\u2019s initial fall is extraordinary, and so is the drunken melee later in the play), and Woodhouse\u2019s amazing makeup and hairstyle, which oddly enough make him look like Father Christmas. That image is enhanced by Jennifer Brawn Gittings\u2019 extraordinary costume designs for all the men. Robin Sanford Roberts\u2019 scenic design has many tales to tell. She is supported by Eric Lotze\u2019s lighting design and Tom Jones\u2019 sound.<\/p>\n
Evil sometimes masquerades as bonhomie. This production of \u201cThe Seafarer\u201d could have been heavy-handed, but is not. Its overall quality and relative restraint bode well for the Rep\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Seafarer\u201d continues at 7 p.m. Wednesdays (except Dec. 9), 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays at San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, $27-$47, www.sdrep.org or (619) 544-1000.<\/p>\n
Charlene Baldridge is a member of the San Diego Critics Circle, with more than 30 years experience writing about the arts.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Charlene Baldridge It\u2019s Christmas Eve in a North Dublin home. One by one, four men gather to make merry with the \u201cspirits\u201d of the holiday. The last to arrive brings along Mr. Lockhart, who seems, from his attire and speech, to be of another time and place. Indeed he is, in Conor McPherson\u2019s 2007 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"San Diego Rep's Seafarer: Even Fallen Angels Need Love","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}