TIR NA NOG: LAND OF YOUTH

TIR NA NOG at The Magic Theater

Edna O’Brien’s writing touches the most calloused heart, yet this autobiographical coming-of-age production surpasses any play I have seen on stage this year for sheer beauty and captivating plot. It is a compelling combination of song, dance and pathos woven together with the artistic touch of an exquisite Persian rug, every color holding its own, yet contributing its part to the perfection of the whole. Tir Na Nog means Land of Youth in Gaelic. It is a theatrical adaptation of O’Brien’s compelling novel The Country Girls directed with an unerring eye for detail, rhythm of speech and movement by the Magic’s own Artistic Director, Chris Smith. The play is a mesmerizing dance integrated with music and words choreographed by Jean Butler. The result is dramatic dynamite.
The production follows two girls who make their way from rural Ireland to Dublin. It focuses on the sexual and artistic awakening Kate and Baba, set in the fifties. The variety of themes are woven together with song; the characters move as if dancing and the pace is just right. “Edna has crafted a theatrically vibrant re-imagining of one of her great stories,” said Smith. “The play is drenched in the landscape and lifeblood of Ireland and her language is just plain gorgeous. “
So is the acting. Deborah Black walks on stage singing and it is her presence and her voice that ties the disparate scenes together. She forms the axis for all the vignettes to spin their spell. She becomes a life force, a presence to comfort and to heal; she is the charm that gathers the audience into the very core of the episodes as they unfold. Every member of this amazing cast is right on key in each of their several roles. Allison Jean White as Kate is the young innocent who learns who she is and more important what she is not and she, like Black are central to the magic of this moving, all too real slice of life as it was in Ireland and in every small village and town on both sides of the Atlantic in the fifties. Summer Serafin as Baba adds just the right touch of deviltry and collusion, the little temptress who ignores what is done and what is right. The two are both sides of the coin of adolescence that Kate must understand and battle if she is to become the person she can be.
Do not deprive yourself of this thrilling and awakening experience. You will see acting unequalled on a regional stage. Every member of this cast deserves twelve stars on a scale of ten and director Chris Smith copious blue ribbons for pulling the production together. It is seamless. It is beautifully rendered and it is to be loved.

IF YOU GO:
Tir na Nog plays through March 23, 2008
WHERE: The Magic Theater’s Sam Shepard Theatre
Building D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
TICKETS: $20-$45, available at 415 441 8822 or www.magicthearre.org