Sisters Denise (Kate MacCluggage, left) and Anna (Danielle Ryan) reunite after a long estrangement.
On the tiny stage of Irish Rep’s basement Studio Theatre, two women sit at a cafe table catching up on their lives. The Approach has a cast of three, and the pairing of women changes for each scene. This Dublin-set play centered solely on women talking with one another is written and directed by men (Mark O’Rowe and Conor Bagley, respectively)—and, alas, for a good portion of its 70-minute run time, it fails the Bechdel test.
Cora (Carmen M. Herlihy, left) hears about kitchen renovations and childbirth from Denise (MacCluggage).
That means the women talk a lot about men. Anna (Danielle Ryan) rhapsodizes about her boyfriend Jared’s romantic gestures, though she’s still furious that her former boyfriend Oliver went on to date her sister, Denise, and she steadfastly believes their relationship started while Oliver and Anna were still together. Denise (Kate MacCluggage), now married to a man named Gerard and the mother of their young son, has her own version to tell about the Oliver affair. Cora (Carmen M. Herlihy), a friend of both sisters, talks to them, separately, about her relationship with Noah, with whom she reunited a couple of years after they initially dated and broke up. A few other past boyfriends and crushes are mentioned as well.
There’s another subject besides men that has an outsize presence in The Approach: death. Oliver died while he and Denise were a couple; the women also speak about their schoolmate Emily, who took her own life, as well as Anna and Denise’s late parents. Yet it’s not due to these conversations that death hovers over The Approach—the show, from its very first moment, takes on the vibe of a horror movie, or psychological thriller. In a prologue to the first scene, the lighting sweeps across the table, fading in and out, as portentous music plays (original score by Joyce Ciesil). The specter of death dominates the drama’s final moments, too. And the script’s repetitive nature—certain topics recur in every scene—suggests a kind of purgatory.
“Much of the dialogue in ‘The Approach’ sounds like an unremarkable conversation.”
Much of the dialogue in The Approach sounds like an unremarkable conversation you might overhear in a coffee shop, or have yourself with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. This can make it tough to figure out where O’Rowe is going with his story. Anticipating a Rashomon-style series of recollections or maybe a Sixth Sense-like reveal, the audience will be attuned to the occasional oddity, such as each woman (in different scenes) sharing the story of her boyfriend custom-making a “romantic” crossword puzzle for her.
If The Approach—or, rather, the approach (by O’Rowe)—doesn’t work, it’s because the blend of mystery and kaffeeklatsch seems unbalanced. There’s simply not enough drama on stage, or in the offstage experiences the women refer to, for a feeling of suspense to prevail. The play could still pique viewers’ curiosity—will one sister’s account of the Oliver triangle be disproved? will something shatter Cora’s notions of how happy the three women were when they lived together in their younger days? On the other hand, some might find it too stagnant. (There’s so little action in the play, the coffee cups on the table never move.)
Bagley, the director, writes in a program note that The Approach is about “shifting realities” and “what we prioritize when we approach one another: genuine connection, or the validation of our own perspective.” He quotes a line that’s spoken twice in the play: “You do your best to be nice to, or connect with, someone, but after a while, you just kind of have to admit to yourself—I mean, don’t you?—that you’re wasting your time.”
Anna (Ryan, left) and Cora (Herlihy) reminisce about their “nice times” as roommates. Photographs by Carol Rosegg.
However, the decisive event for Cora, Anna and Denise isn’t really affected by their differing perspectives, or even their relationships with one another. No spoilers, but several things the women discuss (repeatedly) turn out to be red herrings. The plot twist, apparent only upon reflection at the end of the play, relates to just one subject that comes up, so it’s not like audience members’ entire perception of what they’ve witnessed gets revamped. And some might wonder if it was worth sitting through all that mundane chitchat. Or they could feel unsatisfied by the small hint dropped about one character’s fate.
Herlihy, Ryan and MacCluggage do work together nicely, and their comments and reactions flow naturalistically. Two of the three actors are Americans, and they simulate the Irish speaking cadence well. But the cast’s opportunities for true emoting are limited by the slight material.
The Approach runs through May 10 at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 W. 22nd St.). Performances are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with matinees at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit irishrep.org/whats-on/the-approach.
Playwright: Mark O’Rowe
Director: Conor Bagley
Sets: Daniel Prosky
Costumes: Stephanie Bahniuk
Lighting: Emma Deane
Sound & Original Music: Joyce Ciesil
