Photo credit: North Shore Camera Club

Outside Mullingar

by John Patrick Shanley
Citadel Theatre
February 9 – March 13, 2022

EQUITY JEFF AWARD NOMINEE
BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST PRODUCTION

Director’s Note in the Program:

I was first drawn to Outside Mullingar because I was excited at the idea of a love story between characters who were my age. Love stories aren’t only for star-crossed teenagers or hip 20-somethings; they are also for lonely 40-year-olds (or any other-year-olds for that matter). It’s never too late—or so we hope for Rosemary and Anthony, if only they can get out of their own way. “Time means nothing,” Aoife says, “Love is love.”

While the idea of a mature love story is what pulled me in initially, the characters’ frank admissions of how lonesome they are resonate deeply as we reach two years and counting of life during a pandemic. When so much grief, depression, anxiety, and isolation have become sadly commonplace in our current world, it’s hard for me not to see this play as an intense and cathartic rumination on loneliness.

The characters in this play talk about “now” a lot. “What’s the sky for?” Anthony asks. “Now. It’s for now,” Rosemary answers.

In 2022, how can we overcome our sadness and fear to live fully, now? How can we go on living, day by day, now, while yet maintaining hope, faith even, that everything will work out just how it is meant to be? Somewhere between Anthony’s fatalism and Rosemary’s ferocity may lie the answer.

Sitting in a darkened theatre, that most magical of places, let’s forget time and remember love. Let’s endure loneliness and fight for what we believe. Let’s imagine the sky and just be, now, together. 

Reviews

“Beth Wolf has directed this irresistibly idyllic and deceptively rich play with heart and reverence. …[the] play is a charming, bittersweet slice of life.”
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Chicago Theatre Review, 02.13.2022

“Director Beth Wolf takes us on this journey into the lives of these people….This is a delightful experience for a theater audience, young and old. …the perfect way to get back to attending “live” productions again.”
★★★★★ RECOMMENDED
Around the Town, 02.13.2022

“Outside Mullingar is a sweet little Irish valentine of a play, requiring a light touch to fully bring out its placid, low-key charm. And that’s just what director Beth Wolf and her seasoned four-person cast have brought to this revival… Mullingar is an actor’s play, and director Wolf wisely gives her cast all the room they need to inhabit these expansive, expressive roles.”
RECOMMENDED
NewCity Stage, 02.18.2022

“Four outstanding actors who bring the story to life… Directed by Beth Wolf who was moved by the theme of loneliness in the play,… Outside Mullingar really gets inside its characters with sweetness and charm.”
RECOMMENDED
Chicago Theatre and Arts, 02.12.2022

“The stated mission of their company is “Citadel Theatre is committed to producing exciting, compelling, emotionally and intellectually rich work of the highest caliber by bringing together gifted professionals from all theatrical disciplines.” They certainly achieved this goal on opening night for Outside Mullingar.”
RECOMMENDED
Splash Magazine, 02.14.2022

Cast and Crew

Ross Frawley – Anthony
Jack Hickey* – Tony
Susan Hofflander* – Aoife
Laura Leonardo Ownby – Rosemary

Matthew Silar* (Stage Manager), AnnaMae Durham (Props Design), Catherine Gillespie (Dialect Coach), Eric Luchen (Scenic Design), Jennifer Mickelson (Intimacy Director), Cindy Moon (Costume Design), Stefanie Senior (Sound Design),Samuel Stephen (Lighting Design), Nick Peebles (Technical Director), Samantha Thielman (Backstage Crew), Emmy Weldon (Scenic Charge Artist)

*denotes member of Actors Equity Association