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The Irish Curse

nytheatre.com review by Timothy Fannon
August 15, 2005

Have you heard the joke about the bald guy, the short guy, the gay guy, the priest, and the Irishman all sitting around talking about the size of their schlongs? Actually, this is no joke—it is the primary concern of Martin Casella’s witty and poignant new play, The Irish Curse, performing with the New York International Fringe Festival at the Linhart Theatre.Four New Yorkers meet weekly in a church basement in Brooklyn Heights looking for therapeutic release from their shared malign—the “Irish curse.” A young Irishman joins the group and immediately begins to challenge their own insecurities and hopes. Each man finds some salvation over the course of the meeting—strengthening his own sense of self as well as the bond shared by the group as a whole.The acting ensemble is phenomenal—Brian Leahy, Eddie Korbich, Howard Kaye, William McCauley, and Roderick Hill give true definition to the five struggling men and are completely engaged in each other’s work. The humor, emotion, and total presence expelled by the actors is palpable to the audience.I was thoroughly taken by the show. Maybe its because I’m a guy, maybe its because I’m Irish, maybe its because I’ve sat around with my buddies talking about the size of our dicks. But I don’t think so. I attribute my response to the well-crafted and fully engaging language, the simplicity, economy, and groundedness of Matt Lenz’s direction, and the committed and genuine performances. All of the artists involved should be commended for their thoroughness, presence, and vulnerability.Yes, the play is about five men talking the entire time about the size of their dicks. But in a perversion of our “big-dick”-centric culture, they are busy discussing how little their dicks are. Over the course of the play their conversation unmasks truthful questions of identity, masculinity, relationships, social status, and sex in a compelling and comic way.What is most effective about the work is that the playwright is not simply writing comedy or endowing his characters with the desire to merely find an outlet to complain or grumble about their conditions. The play is ultimately about hope and perseverance, about the camaraderie necessary to get through difficult times and the joy and release of human expression. I highly recommend the experience.