AWAY ALONE
Playwright Janet Noble wants to explore the emotional dynamics of a family, although in this case the family is a group of related and unrelated Irish immigrants in present-day New York City. Noble uses time-honored and possibly worn-out conventions to enact this drama. Her hopelessly naive protagonist, Liam (Andrew Lyons), is newly arrived in America; he functions as a surrogate for the audience, so that we can discover the New World along with him. Noble sets most of the play in a cramped Bronx tenement where the Irish characters all live, creating an environment that is at once familiar and emotionally volatile, giving the audience a window into a situation of great intimacy. To create some distance from this setting, and to bring to the surface some of the issues that are silenced at the apartment, she gives us Mario (Robert John Keating), the street-smart bartender to whom the characters turn for solace and advice.
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Only in the second act does Noble elevate the passions in her play. Owen, whose dream is to return to Ireland and open his own diner, is crushed when he discovers that his wife, back home, has sold his property. Realizing that he is forever trapped in his third-class existence, he lashes out at everyone around him, particularly at Desmond, who has taken a “womanish” job as a nanny. When Desmond drowns himself–perhaps, the play suggests, because he is gay (haven’t these offensive stereotypes disappeared yet?)–Owen is racked with pain and guilt.
