Temporal Powers
Sometimes you walk into a theatre and for some uncanny reason begin to anticipate that something very fine is about to happen. And when those expectations are met, it’s like falling in love for the first time and you remember why you fell in love with live theatre in the first place. This was my experience viewing this marvelous play performed by a flawless cast.
The Mint Theatre Company is committed to bringing to life forgotten and neglected plays. They excavate buried theatrical treasures, reclaiming them for present day audiences, promoting their ongoing theatrical life. How fortunate for us that they discovered playwright Teresa Deevy.
TEPMORAL POWERST is a profoundly philosophical as well as psychological play. It opens on Michael Donovan (Aidan Redmond) and his wife Min Donovan (Rosie Benton) who have been evicted from their home and taken refuge in an abandoned ruin on the outskirts of a town somewhere in Ireland. Min never ceases abusing and blaming her husband for their dire, unrelenting poverty. Michael, a man who has never spared himself from honest work, stands stoically against her assault. A stash of hidden
money is found on top of a crumbling wall. The moral dilemma now is what to do with this money: use it to mitigate their suffering, or give it to the priest to find its rightful owner. The struggle around this question forces the husband and wife to be tested to their limits, and discover who they actually are as people. The story is fleshed out with the interventions of relatives and local familiars. This play is a gem, a little masterpiece.
I cannot rave enough about Aidan Redmond’s performance as the simple man who works the land, firm in his moral convictions, yet full of tenderness toward his wife. It was impossible not to respond to this noble character. Rosie Benton, in a most difficult role of an independently thinking woman desperate to rise above her circumstances, beautifully lured us to sympathize with her longings . Her final moments on stage were masterfully acted. Never heavy-handed, Con Horgan gave a light, even humorous touch to his portrayal of the criminal and outcast of the clan. Eli James and Wrenn Schmidt were delightful as young lovers, and Fiana Tobin, Bairbre Dowling, Paul Carlin and Robertson Carricart were all totally authentic, never falling into caricature as happens in so many Irish plays.
I wish to share with our readers something about the life of this marvelous playwright. Being female and deaf (this misfortune occurred in her twenties), Teresa Deevy (1894-1963) didn’t fit the typical image of a playwright. In 1930 the Abbey Theatre accepted her play, REAPERS. In 1932 she won first prize in the Abbey’s new play contest with TEMPORAL POWERS. She moved to Dublin with her sister Dell who served as an interpreter. Her most popular play was KATIE ROCHE. In the 1940’s the Abbey mysteriously turned down her plays and her career with them ended. She supported herself by writing radio plays for the B.B.C., supervising rehearsals by reading actor’s lips. When her sister-companion died, Teresa returned to her village and was often seen riding around on a bicycle in oddly matched attire. Eventually she lost her eyesight her and died in a nursing home.
Nothing about this production is ordinary. The scenic designer (Vicki R. Davis) and the sound designer (Jane Shaw) were as measured and artistic in their approach as everyone else. If there was one flaw it was in the use of the dialect. If only they could have eased could up on that a bit. Too many words, sometimes whole sentences, were lost. It is the one thing that might prevent this production from becoming a tremendous success.