With a lovely script by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) though closer in tone to his screenplay for Moonstruck, the Dio has crafted Outside Mullingar a lovely Irish romantic comedy that opened last night in Pinckney.
What’s more, since so few people (including myself) have ever read or seen the show before the play has a quality that grabs you right into this family story and keeps you wanting to know what happens next. There is a lot of humor in this midlands-of-Ireland set romance, but also plenty of family angst, love, hate, death, faith, and redemption to keep you on your toes.
Covering a period of five years, the basic story follows two neighboring families with their parents, adult kids, missed opportunities and risks, and one big romance. And like all good romantic comedies, it makes you laugh, cry, and leaves it’s “big ending” for the final minutes of the show.
The four-member cast is outstanding – Adrian Diffey plays family patriarch Tony Reilly, and he beautifully balances spunk with more senior moments; his son Anthony Reilly is played by Peter Crist back on the Dio stage who creates a subdued, sometimes baffled character that keeps everything bottled up, until it isn’t anymore; Next door Aoife Muldoon is played by Fran Potasnik and I swear to God her dialogue is stuff I heard my grandmother say a thousand times, spot-on perfect; and Sarah B Stevens plays her daughter Rosemary Muldoon (originally Debra Messing on Broadway) and creates a pent-up, funny, self-suffering woman in love with her neighbor who has never shown interest in her. It’s so real it will break your heart.
Everything plays out on Matthew Tomich’s lovely inside/outside midlands set, with some terrific new tech surprises in store for you! Director Steve DeBruyne allows the play to develop at a nice comfortable pace and it is performed with 7 scenes without an intermission. Musical interludes allow not only for set and costume changes but also reflection of the passing of time, and the loss of those dear to us, as well as a recognition that one year sometimes doesn’t make one bit of difference, let alone five years.
Not being aware of the play before, my friend Nate Adams (The Only Critic) pointed out afterwards that it had been made into a movie (Wild Mountain Thyme) with substntial changes to the script, which I had also not seen.
I really loved everything about my evening here last night – from the great meal, to a brand new (2014) Broadway play I had never seen before and which now is probably one of my favorites.
Highest Recommendation.
Outside Mullingar continues through March 9th at the Dio Theatre, downtown Pinckney, MI. Tickets are selling fast so get yours now. 517-672-6009 or diotheatre.com Photo courtesy The Dio Theatre.
Mostly Musical Theatre 
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