Thirst, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, through March 17. 617-585-5678 or LyricStage.com
Sometimes a modern playwright focuses on seemingly minor characters in a classic play with major results. So it was with Tom Stoppard's sublime "Hamlet''-inspired play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." The same goes for Ronan Noone's refreshingly imaginative "Thirst"(2022)—an absorbing look at the fortunes of three workers at Monte Cristo Cottage, the Connecticut summer seaside home of the fictional Tyrone family in Eugene O'Neill's powerful drama "Long Day's Journey into Night (written 1939-1941;staged on Broadway 1956).
Lovingly helmed by artistic director Courtney O'Connor, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston's latest effort turns the Boston-based playwright's celebration of Irish-Americans and their hopes and dreams into a richly flavored brew.
Early on, "Thirst" alludes to famed explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen. The allusion is very apt as Noone explores the respective immigrant journeys of cook Bridget Conroy and second girl or maid Cathleen Mullen and the plans of America-born chauffeur Jack Smythe.
Although only Cathleen actually appears in the O'Neill play—with Bridget and Jack merely referenced, all three receive very full attention in this August, 1912 kitchen-set play.
Right from the start, the chemistry between Bridget and widower Jack is clear. At the same time, Jack candidly credits Bridget with giving new purpose to his life. As for Bridget's Titanic-surviving niece Cathleen, her aunt means to be a kind of guardian-mentor. That intention becomes a tall order as Shakespeare, declaiming Cathleen aspires to be a serious actress. For his part, ambitious Jack wants to start a car rental company but insists that he will not set out without Bridget.
All three Irish workers feel that the dysfunctional Tyrones—on the other side of the stage left kitchen wall—do not appreciate how exhausting their drudgery is. Kathleen and Bridget repeatedly move back and forth in a kind of domestic rut as they prepare the family's meals. Janie E. Howland's very well-detailed set includes a white icebox refrigerator and a period stove as well as a fitting repertoire of pots and pans—two of which Bridget will brandish weapon-like at a particular moment of frustration.
Designer Karen Perlow turns the play's stage lighting into a poetic barometer of the alternating brightening and dimming of the character's fortunes. There are also moments when the on and off lighting beyond the kitchen leaves Bridget and Kathleen at the beck and call of the Tyrones. This alternation carries over to Mikayla Reid's costume design as attire moves between work clothes and dress wear that reflects respective attempts to rise above daily routines.
There is nothing routine about the cast members' performances. Aimee Doherty smartly balances Bridget's defensive sarcasm and genuine caring for Kathleen. Kate Fitzgerald finds all of Kathleen's appealing spirit—especially in lively strong-willed exchanges with Doherty's protective Bridget. Michael Kaye captures Jack's lyrical romancing of Bridget and his striking inner strength—most notably giving robust expression to the chauffeur's unfailing quest for self-realization.
Near the close of the play, Kathleen unequivocally calls herself a survivor. Doherty, Fitzgerald and Kay invest their vivid respective characters with the inner reserves of people possessing shining futures. "Thirst" is overflowing with their engaging worthiness.