courtesy of Scena Theatre
Capitol Hill theater comes in all shapes and sizes, and the premiere of Scena Theatre’s Molly at the Atlas Center for the Performing Arts is both a surprise and stunner as it shows the power of a single actor taking the stage.
The play runs through Sunday and if you’re in the mood for intensity, catch one of their last shows.
This one-woman drama stars Danielle Davy as the heroine of playwright George O’Brien’s haunting drama about the mistress of Irish playwright J.M. Synge. The body of work often focuses on political issues and a Dublin riot broke out after one of the plays, which dramatized the lives of Roman Catholics in rural Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Dressed in mourning clothes, Davy draws in the audience into her melancholy life. As the play begins, viewers have to hone their ears to her thick Irish brogue. Davy, a striking lithe red-head, born for the part, brings humor to the lovelorn Molly. As it’s often said in Irish literature, comedy and tragedy are close cousins. The emotional portrayal of a young woman scandalized by Synge’s death maintains a convincing personalization of the actress, who performed in many of Synge’s plays for the length of the 75-minute long monologue. It is a long time to focus on a single character, but Davy’s powerful performance, enhanced by photographic imagery featured in the staging and haunting Uilleann pipes is a standout. The play gives viewers a robust insight into the lives of the cultural elite in Dublin.
The play was written by award-winning George O’Brien, a professor emeritus at Georgetown University. It’s O’Brien’s first play and is deeply reflective of the era, playwright, and dramatic form taught to his students.
Molly runs until Sunday at the Atlas Center for the Performing Arts. Use promo code Lover10 and save $10 off each ticket. Tickets still available.