16 October 1997 Edition
Theatre: Sean Penn's Irish play distorts reality
Sean Penn recently produced a play in Los Angeles which is set in Belfast. Cast in the leading roles are his parents, actors Eileen Ryan and Leo Penn. The play `Remembrance', written by Irish playwright Graham Reid sadly would have been best forgotten. But to write a damning review of this production in this context serves little purpose.
Few who read An Phoblacht will have the opportunity to see this play here in Los Angeles and make up their own minds. However, I think it is worth pausing for a moment to try and understand the implications of staging this play at this time given that there are so many other more worthy contemporary works which directly address cultural and political differences in the North.
The story in brief is about an elderly Protestant man who meets a Catholic woman in a graveyard. Both are widowed and have lost their sons under tragic circumstances. The Catholic son, murdered in a sectarian killing, the Protestant for his apparent loyalist connections, are buried near one another - an unlikely scenario in itself. The mother and father strike up a romance in the apparent neutral territory of the dead, meeting regularly over tea and sandwiches at the graveside. When they attempt to share their new found romance with their adult children they are met with bigotry, suspicion and ridicule and as a result they are forced to ``stay apart'' for the sake of the children - a new twist on the broken home theme. The play ends with all the children leaving Belfast and they (the parents) remain in touch by letter despite the fact they both chose not to leave.
The theme of ageism and sexuality and the disgusted response by their adult children at their parents' desire and love could be explored under any backdrop, it is a universal theme; the children being more narrow minded than the parents, again a twist on traditional visions of love; however the backdrop of the ``troubles'' adds little to what could be an interesting plot in itself. In this context it produces an underlying theme that bigotry belongs to the younger generation, and the older generation as a result of experience are by definition more tolerant; if this were the case, one can only wonder where the present generation learnt its values?
The dialogue moves back and forth from the Catholic household (complete with outside toilet) to the more well off (DIY'ed) Protestant home which allows for every stereotype imaginable to be explored. Each parent has reared its hot headed child - the father's remaining son is a bigoted cop, and the mother has two daughters, one of whom is married to a POW in the Kesh. These characters are juxtaposed again as basically the same; the sex-starved cop whose marriage has broken down complains about how his nice wife is frigid while the prisoner's wife is bursting with libido, she has nothing but resentment for her husband despite her alleged politics and is even ready to abandon her own children to get away to England. Just before the play ends the cop meets the wife of the prisoner and he asks her on a date. It is hard to imagine this play ever being staged in Ireland. But there is something very sinister here: the childless marriage of the cop (whose wife is an open-minded woman but the stress of his job breaks their marriage) is juxtaposed with the republican woman who beats, then abandons her children.
But how at a moment where in the very place this play is set - where dialogue is finally taking place and the war has moved beyond the bounds of painting the situation with such crude simplicity - could a play like this which determines everything in terms of equal-opposites find a home?
Having worked as a member of a group of cultural activists (Irish Ethos) in Los Angeles in bringing issues of the north to the attention of broader audience here in the southern California, I think it becomes legitimate that we ask ourselves, how could this play amongst so many others have been chosen at this time? Sean Penn is known as a progressive, himself a loyal supporter of Californian Senator, Tom Hayden; in 1994 he met Gerry Adams during his visit to Los Angeles, so how could he have chosen this play, other than that it offered him the opportunity to work closely with his parents in the leading roles? While I am sure that experience for all of them must have its rewards it cannot excuse such a dreadful choice which does absolutely nothing to further an understanding of the last 30 years, nor does it throw any light on the peace process. On the contrary, it is destructive. It is hard to imagine this was Penn's intention.
Sinead O'Connor created music specifically for the play, again lending a credibility that this production does not deserve; and the media, because of Sean Penn's association with the play, has ensured that despite poor reviews the play has been seen by packed houses.
There is I think an assumption that with regularly visits to the United States by leaders in the Republican Movement, that we have all moved beyond the need to debate again the misconception of religious war and that American people have a deeper understanding of what the issues in the North are about. While on the one hand we are dealing with more sophisticated issues around the struggles of dialogue and peace, the fact remains that a play like this can be endorsed by people of such cultural prominence, consequently giving the credibility to its misrepresentation of the north only shows us that there is still an immense amount of political education and cultural work to be done.
It would be easy to write glibly, that perhaps Sean Penn should stick to acting - but I think what would be more productive, would be to invite him to next year's West Belfast Festival and for him to have the opportunity to look at new material being produced in the North, this way Los Angeles audiences would have the opportunity to see something which truly reflected people's lives instead of this crude and distorted attempt which only obscures reality.
By Trisha Ziff
Few who read An Phoblacht will have the opportunity to see this play here in Los Angeles and make up their own minds. However, I think it is worth pausing for a moment to try and understand the implications of staging this play at this time given that there are so many other more worthy contemporary works which directly address cultural and political differences in the North.
The story in brief is about an elderly Protestant man who meets a Catholic woman in a graveyard. Both are widowed and have lost their sons under tragic circumstances. The Catholic son, murdered in a sectarian killing, the Protestant for his apparent loyalist connections, are buried near one another - an unlikely scenario in itself. The mother and father strike up a romance in the apparent neutral territory of the dead, meeting regularly over tea and sandwiches at the graveside. When they attempt to share their new found romance with their adult children they are met with bigotry, suspicion and ridicule and as a result they are forced to ``stay apart'' for the sake of the children - a new twist on the broken home theme. The play ends with all the children leaving Belfast and they (the parents) remain in touch by letter despite the fact they both chose not to leave.
The theme of ageism and sexuality and the disgusted response by their adult children at their parents' desire and love could be explored under any backdrop, it is a universal theme; the children being more narrow minded than the parents, again a twist on traditional visions of love; however the backdrop of the ``troubles'' adds little to what could be an interesting plot in itself. In this context it produces an underlying theme that bigotry belongs to the younger generation, and the older generation as a result of experience are by definition more tolerant; if this were the case, one can only wonder where the present generation learnt its values?
The dialogue moves back and forth from the Catholic household (complete with outside toilet) to the more well off (DIY'ed) Protestant home which allows for every stereotype imaginable to be explored. Each parent has reared its hot headed child - the father's remaining son is a bigoted cop, and the mother has two daughters, one of whom is married to a POW in the Kesh. These characters are juxtaposed again as basically the same; the sex-starved cop whose marriage has broken down complains about how his nice wife is frigid while the prisoner's wife is bursting with libido, she has nothing but resentment for her husband despite her alleged politics and is even ready to abandon her own children to get away to England. Just before the play ends the cop meets the wife of the prisoner and he asks her on a date. It is hard to imagine this play ever being staged in Ireland. But there is something very sinister here: the childless marriage of the cop (whose wife is an open-minded woman but the stress of his job breaks their marriage) is juxtaposed with the republican woman who beats, then abandons her children.
But how at a moment where in the very place this play is set - where dialogue is finally taking place and the war has moved beyond the bounds of painting the situation with such crude simplicity - could a play like this which determines everything in terms of equal-opposites find a home?
Having worked as a member of a group of cultural activists (Irish Ethos) in Los Angeles in bringing issues of the north to the attention of broader audience here in the southern California, I think it becomes legitimate that we ask ourselves, how could this play amongst so many others have been chosen at this time? Sean Penn is known as a progressive, himself a loyal supporter of Californian Senator, Tom Hayden; in 1994 he met Gerry Adams during his visit to Los Angeles, so how could he have chosen this play, other than that it offered him the opportunity to work closely with his parents in the leading roles? While I am sure that experience for all of them must have its rewards it cannot excuse such a dreadful choice which does absolutely nothing to further an understanding of the last 30 years, nor does it throw any light on the peace process. On the contrary, it is destructive. It is hard to imagine this was Penn's intention.
Sinead O'Connor created music specifically for the play, again lending a credibility that this production does not deserve; and the media, because of Sean Penn's association with the play, has ensured that despite poor reviews the play has been seen by packed houses.
There is I think an assumption that with regularly visits to the United States by leaders in the Republican Movement, that we have all moved beyond the need to debate again the misconception of religious war and that American people have a deeper understanding of what the issues in the North are about. While on the one hand we are dealing with more sophisticated issues around the struggles of dialogue and peace, the fact remains that a play like this can be endorsed by people of such cultural prominence, consequently giving the credibility to its misrepresentation of the north only shows us that there is still an immense amount of political education and cultural work to be done.
It would be easy to write glibly, that perhaps Sean Penn should stick to acting - but I think what would be more productive, would be to invite him to next year's West Belfast Festival and for him to have the opportunity to look at new material being produced in the North, this way Los Angeles audiences would have the opportunity to see something which truly reflected people's lives instead of this crude and distorted attempt which only obscures reality.
By Trisha Ziff