There was a time (before the phenomenon of
“instant news” on the internet) when what most Americans knew about Ireland
came from television reports of IRA bombings. News anchors never once
questioned the British occupation. The first we heard of “terrorists” was in
the nightly news and the “terrorists” they spoke about were IRA, not Middle
Eastern. It would take many decades for the tide of public opinion to turn
against the British.
Lest we forget how far back the enmity
reaches, Wellesley Summer Theatre Company is reviving Helen Edmundson’s THE
CLEARING (playing through Feb. 2nd) which they mounted ten years
ago. Edmundson sets her play in the mid 1600s when Cromwell’s agents have come
to Ireland
to clear out “undesirables,” seize land and “reeducate” the Irish in the
British mold. Women and children were deported to be sold as indentured
servants… or worse. Irish who objected were hung as traitors. Place names were
changed and penalties enforced for speaking anything but English. (Brian
Friel’s luminous TRANSLATIONS addresses the same topic flawlessly.)
Edmundson’s sweeping, romantic drama should
have the feel of a David Lean epic. The WST production starts with promise,
when we meet a dashing outlaw in a clearing behind an estate where a baby has
just been born. He’s rendezvousing with a go-between to find out about the
baby’s mother, a beautiful Irish woman he still cares for who sadly, and
foolishly, we learn later on, has married a British officer. Lewis D. Wheeler
makes the scene crackle with intrigue when he refuses Elisabeth Yancey’s sweet
invitation to enter the house. (Wheeler’s presence revives the production every
time he appears. Alas, his character isn’t seen nearly enough.)
Nora Hussey’s production for WST takes a
whist broom approach, fussing over set pieces (moving them catty-corner or a
foot to the side) to signal each little scene change, hoping it will culminate
in a grand sweep—when it really serves to interrupt the flow of the action. WST
is, however, lucky to have Angela Bilkic as the doomed Irish wife. She gives
the role spirit and a touch of wildness (evident in a scene with the baby which
made my audience gasp). Most of the other characters are portrayed in black or
white, as Marge Dunn’s character describes the divide: Either people are
good at heart or not…but one dimensional bad guys aren’t nearly as
compelling as faceted villains.
THE CLEARING still packs a political punch
reminding all of us of the tyranny of empire and manifest destiny.
