Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
'The Muesli Belt' Tackles Gentrification On The Emerald Isle
Other than merely being a consistently high-quality and award-winning theatre company, Theatre Banshee also does the service of introducing new or previously unseen Irish plays and playwrights to Los Angeles audiences. One of these writers is Jimmy Murphy, whose Kings of the Kilburn High Road was given a strong production at the Banshee a few years ago. The company's latest show, the U.S. premiere of Murphy's The Muesli Belt, is a moving and funny character study buoyed by terrific performances.
The story is set in 1999, when Ireland was going through an economic boom, and gentrification was the order of the day in Dublin. Mick (John McKenna, who alternates with Matt Foyer) runs a down-at-heel pub known as The Black Pool, employing practical young Sinéad (Lisa Dobbyn), giving local salon owner Nora (Kathleen M. Darcy) a regular place to drink and providing the just retired Tommy (Ian Patrick Williams) a home in the next door flat. However, developer Mossy (Andrew Graves, who alternates with Andrew Leman) is trying to get Mick and Nora to sell their businesses, which would change the lives of the entire group, and not necessarily for the better.
McKenna is credible and sympathetic as Mick, playing a man who has to balance his own needs with that of the community, and he captures the character's internal conflict well, shifting from righteous anger to overwhelming guilt and back again. Darcy is excellent as Nora, whose thorny exterior masks desperation and self-doubt. Her performance is touching, and she also brings a great comic energy to the role. Dobbyn is equally good in a quieter part, as Sinéad attempts to attach herself to a possible winner--her acting is subtle and funny and fine. Graves is charismatic and humorous as blunt object of capitalism Mossy, and Williams is appropriately sweet and sad as the unlucky Tommy.
Director Sean Branney gets commendable work from his cast, generating enough emotion in a short period of time that the audience cares about them and their dilemma quickly. Murphy's characters seem real, and his dialogue often gets right to his point ("Some things don't have a price: friendship, loyalty." "That's because they're worthless.") about how greed changes lives irrevocably. The very ending, however, does feel a bit anticlimactic. That aside, this is a solid show that ably demonstrates the cost of replacing individuals with corporations.
Support for LAist comes from
"The Muesli Belt" plays at Theatre Banshee through Dec. 2. Tickets are available online.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist