Pioneer Theatre Company produces a diverse array of shows year in and year out. It is not an easy task to go from the crazy rock concert atmosphere of The Rocky Horror Show directly to a play as dramatic and deep as Outside Mullingar which was written by celebrated playwright John Patrick Shanley. However this is exactly what PTC is attempting to do, with the latter opening Oct. 30 and running through Nov. 14.
“I feel like [PTC Artistic Director] Karen Azenberg has done a brilliant job of diversifying this season at Pioneer to give audiences a taste of so many different delights,” said Amy Bodnar, who plays Rosemary Muldoon. “You have Fiddler on the Roof which is like a companion piece to Outside Mullingar because of the family elements and dealing with change. Then you get something like The Rocky Horror Show which is like a big whipped cream pie that everyone wants to eat so she has given everybody a little bit of everything.”
Outside Mullingar, a contemporary Irish romantic comedy with dramatic undertones made its stage debut in 2014 to critical acclaim. The play was written by Shanley who won both a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize for his play Doubt and won an Academy Award for his screenplay for the film Moonstruck. The play follows two Irish farmers, Rosemary Muldoon and Anthony Reilly (played by Tom O’Keefe), lifelong neighbors whose families find themselves in the middle of an unfortunate land dispute. Despite their differences, a long-dormant romance begins to bloom in the most unlikely of circumstances with dramatic and comedic results.
“The play is tremendous. As soon as I read it I thought it was a dream role but that it would never happen,” Bodnar said. “It’s such a wonderful strong character to play. She is so confident and yet at the same time vulnerable. It’s so beautifully written and I feel lucky to be doing it.”
Although Bodnar was deeply impressed by the performance of Debra Messing who starred in the role in the original production, she doesn’t feel any pressure to try and duplicate it.
“I’m drawing from my own imagination and not necessarily what I saw,” said Bodnar. “[Messing] was absolutely wonderful and it would be very difficult to do what she did. It would be very hard to imitate that and it would be a mistake to try.”
Straight plays, in contrast to more marketable musicals, generally include more narrative and have the ability to explore human emotion on a much deeper level. Outside Mullingar is a play that thrives off raw emotion and is supplemented by the finely-tuned writing of Shanley. It is part of the reason Bodnar is thrilled to be part of this production.
“In a musical you have to express your emotion in song, which requires a different kind of depth that’s required to bring that alive and make it feel real,” said Bodnar. “This is a romantic comedy that is so poetic and beautiful with notes that will touch every single person. It’s about love and loss which is something most people have experienced or will at some point. Its dramatic poetry, it really is.”
U students can attend at a discounted rate by showing their UCard at the PTC box office. Students can also take advantage of “Rush” tickets by going to the box office one hour before the show and purchasing a $5 ticket with a valid UCard.
“I think the most compelling reason to see this play would be because it’s a beautiful story presented in an incredible, authentic way by one of the truly great playwrights of our time, and have an evening where you can enjoy some time away from studying,” said Bodnar. “You can go to movies or watch television but nothing is going to carry you away like a piece of live theatre.”