Milwaukee Irish Arts performs a couple of dramas in rotation this weekend. It’s a particularly busy weekend in local theater. One hopes that a couple of cozy, little dramas in the Next Act Theatre space generate more than a little interest in the midst of it all.
I had the opportunity last night to see Milwaukee Irish Arts’ production of contemporary Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan’s Moment. James J. Gallagher directs the show, which originally debuted only a few years ago on the other side of the Atlantic. The story of a family get-together plays out in a few scenes staged in a modest, middle-class home in Dublin.
In the course of the drama’s two hours, we are introduced to a thriving, little ensemble of characters. Sharon Nieman Koebert is endearing as the rigidly fragile matriarch of a shattered family who is trying to pretend like it’s all still together. Lindsey L. Gagliano dazzlingly seethes as her daughter. She’s a warm presence in emotional darkness as she reluctantly visits her mum while haunted by shadows of her childhood. As her brother, Nate Press plays to an entirely different darkness stemming from the same events which haunt his sister. Sasha Katharine Sigel plays a sibling of the other two. She’s trying to keep everything together just like her mum, but might be doing so in a way that’s a bit more stable and realistic.
Everyone else in the cast is an outsider to the family dynamic. We see the revelations of the drama through them. Zach McLain plays the husband of Sigel’s character. McLain’s powerful, physically imposing stage presence is gentle here. He’s a calming influence. Rob Maass plays to a different kind of power as the boyfriend of Gagliano’s character. Maass is a crushingly compassionate energy onstage in the role. Maggie McGwin plays the love of Press’ character--an outsider who desperately wants to understand his childhood.
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Annie Terry rounds out the cast as a girl named Hillary. Terry’s a young actress who is likely handed the single most difficult role in the whole play. She has only moments to make the single most important impression in the entire drama in a pair of very crucial scenes. Terry handles it with a playfully graceful poise that makes the gravity of the drama all the more overwhelming.
Milwaukee Irish Arts’ production of Moment is presented in rotation with Little Gem by Elaine Murphy now through Jan. 18 at the Next Act Theatre on 255 S. Water St. For more information, visit Next Act online.