ATP kicks off 50th anniversary season with hugely human Irish dramedy The Seafarer

The cast of The Seafarer, from L to R: Christopher Hunt, David Trimble, Shaun Smyth, Paul Gross and Chirag Naik. (Photo: Benjamin Laird)

Alberta Theatre Projects transformed the Martha Cohen Theatre into an Irish living room to kick off its 50^th anniversary season Friday night, and all that was missing was a touch of whiskey tucked into the cup holder.

It was opening night of The Seafarer, Conor McPherson’s darkly comic Christmas Eve tale about a pair of brawling brothers on a night before unlike any other.

Right off the top, when we meet blind, aging and hungover Richard (Christopher Hunt, no relation), who has passed out by the fire in the living room of his shabby little home in the suburbs north of Dublin, it’s pretty clear that we’re in for a bit of a wild holiday ride.

Richard needs a shave, his bladder is bursting and his can’t find his stick – his cane – to help him navigate himself over to the loo.

What’s worse, his best drinking buddy Ivan (David Trimble) is in worse shape than he is, and little brother Sharky (Shaun Smyth) is lost in thought or something due to the sad shape of his life, which has resulted in him quitting drinking for two (!!) days now.

It’s the day before Christmas, and there are errands to be run in town, most particularly a run to the liquor store to pick up whiskey, Harps – and even some Miller beer for Nicky (Chirag Naik), who, it turns out, has taken up residence with Sharkey’s ex-wife Eileen who he has clearly not gotten over.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, out comes the details of Sharky’s past that led to his being in a difficult situation on this particular Christmas Eve, where he has landed as his brother’s keeper after leaving a job as a driver for a wealthy man and his wife.

For a while, it all seems to be an amiable slice-of-life yarn about a down-and-out crew of Irish guys trying to hold it together during the holidays, and then Nicky shows up with a mysterious, well-dressed gentleman named Mr. Lockhart (Paul Gross), and The Seafarer takes an abrupt turn into something a little more metaphysical.

Lockhart, who is tall, tanned, thin and has a head full of white hair, looks a bit like a posh gentleman who has gone on a pub crawl with some rough trade and now finds himself making the best of it with a bunch of aging hooligans – but it’s a little more mythological and magical than that.

Nicky’s arrival has amped up Sharky’s blood pressure even higher and what's worse, for an Irish reformed hooligan, he’s relying on 7-Up to try to level himself off! Meanwhile, Richard and Ivan hit the Irish whiskey every time Sharky turns his attention elsewhere, leading to Hunt and Trimble creating a comic choreography of drunken behaviour that’s practically a dance routine -- and showcases two of Calgary's greatest comedy actors.

In fact, Hunt, who is all twitches and slack jaw and drool and bug eyes, can communicate an entire man’s soul with his face. Richard might be blind, but Hunt plays him as a wild man, careening from one high emotion to another. He’s the focal point of every exchange as he bounces between making caustic remarks about Sharky’s efforts at sobriety and trying to get Ivan together again, while also trying to get to the bottom of who, exactly, Mr. Lockhart is.

Christopher Hunt and Shaun Smyth in The Seafarer at Alberta Theatre Projects through Nov. 10. (Photo: Benjamin Laird)

There’s also a lot of card playing in The Seafarer, which is its own kind of choreography, and  it results in some wonderful ensemble acting between the five men onstage.

I’ll try not to reveal any spoilers, but at a couple of spots in the show, the hooligans are called away, leaving Sharky to confront Mr. Lockhart, who reveals the reason why this is a Christmas Eve unlike any other for him.

Smyth’s Sharky is a slow-smouldering mess of a man who spent too much of his youth boozing and brawling and has arrived at the moment in his life where he has to confront his utter isolation.

Gross, as Lockhart, is elusive and then scary and then unforgettable, in a monologue where he shares his vision of Hell.

Paul Gross and Shaun Smyth in The Seafarer at Alberta Theatre Projects. (Photo: Benjamin Laird)

It’s all wonderfully directed by Peter Pasyk, who manages to steer McPherson’s mythological holiday dramedy towards a surprisingly hopeful ending.

Driving to work this morning, I decided that the awesome ensemble cast of The Seafarer was kind of like a band onstage -- in fact,  you might say they were the theatrical Rolling Stones.

There was Mick (Hunt), bobbing and weaving and waving his cane to chase away the winos who camp on his back stairs. There was Ronnie (Naik), and Charlie Watts (Trimble), keeping the backbeat. (Who's Sharky? OK, it's not a perfect metaphor).

Gross, who has acted, directed and written some of Canada’s best film and television of the past 35 years, turns Mr. Lockhart into a kind of theatrical version of Keith Richards: for long stretches, he bides his time, while Richard and Ivan and Nicky squawk and squabble, and then when the time calls for it, just like Keef on those old hit Stones songs – he slays.

The Seafarer is a richly-comic, hugely human holiday story brought to theatrical life by a talented ensemble of Calgary actors. It runs through Nov. 10. For more information, go here.