STONEHAM — From William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life’’ to Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,’’ from “Casablanca’’ to “Cheers,’’ writers have gotten plenty of traction over the years by gathering lost souls in a bar and letting them wax philosophical.
In James McLindon’s “Distant Music,’’ now at Stoneham Theatre under the direction of Weylin Symes, the setting is an Irish pub in Cambridge presided over by a garrulous bartender named Dev (Michael Ryan Buckley).
Comments
I attended "Distant Music" over the weekend, and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the play. I do agree that Thomas Kee's Connor was the weakest of the three characters as presented. "Dev" and "Maeve", however, more than made of up for Connor's faiulre to adequately display the angst he was supposedly feeling. The character of Dev, in particular, was a pleasure and I never grew tired of his monlogues. He was playing a type - the irish bartender with the gift of gab - and he hit the mark perfectly. As for the gimick of having him address us at the outset of the play, his direct engagement with the audience allowed us to feel that we were observers in the bar as opposed to sitting in the audience. The audience started laughing within moments, and the laughter carried through for the entire play. The play was well worth the price of admission.