In their 34th season kickoff, SpeakEasy Stage Company set the stage with an immensely powerful rendition of “A Man of No Importance,” which ran from Feb. 21 to March 22 in the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts Calderwood Pavilion.
This musical marks the final production of artistic director Paul Daigneault, who first founded the company in 1992 and has since made over 160 productions as the head artistic leadership, according to SpeakEasy’s website. As his swan song, Daigneault shined a spotlight on self-identity and acceptance, both of yourself and others — concepts that resonate with his own queer identity and are more pertinent than ever today.
Set in 1960s Dublin, bus conductor Alfie Byrne, played by Eddie Shields, attempts to direct a new production for his bus passengers-turned-amateur theater troupe, the St. Imelda Players. Alfie is enamored with Irish poet Oscar Wilde’s work — his group has even previously performed Wilde’s famous “The Importance of Being Earnest.” However, Alfie’s plans to stage “Salome” — Wilde’s risqué play centered around Salome and John the Baptist — in his church raise issues with the archbishop, who cannot condone the lustful, immodest acts of biblical figures.
Dublin’s prevalent Catholic beliefs not only threaten the sanctuary theater has provided Alfie, but also shape his complicated relationship with his sexuality and himself. In a community that still criminalizes homosexuality, his closeted feelings for bus driver Robbie Fay are grounds for ostracization and loss of normality — just as Wilde experienced during his conviction and imprisonment for gross indecency, the crime of homosexuality.
The cast shines through their brilliant characterizations of their characters. Shields’ portrayal of Alfie is raw and tender, especially in the transformations from Alfie’s lively, passionate disposition into vulnerability and consternation. In the scenes when Alfie is alone, accompanied only by a manifestation of Wilde that echoes his fear of “temptation,” Shields potently conveys the internal conflict between the Catholic ideology he has been taught and his identity as a queer man.
Aimee Doherty, playing Alfie’s older sister Lily, demonstrates Lily’s fierce loyalty to her brother with sincerity. Doherty’s earnestness in her interactions with Alfie — even when disapproving of his actions or pressuring him to develop romantic connections — makes Lily’s assurance that she loved him all the same in “Tell Me Why” feel nothing but genuine.
Sam Simhahk plays Lily’s lover, local butcher William Carney. Breathing flamboyant life into the character, Simhahk interprets him as an ostentatious and self-interested man — the musical’s evident antagonist. Still, Simhahk’s portrayal of Carney as a byproduct of the same Catholic system that traps Alfie is strikingly human in all of its flaws and prejudices.
With such a poignant and personal narrative, the smaller space of the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre feels fitting for the musical, especially with the use of a thrust stage. In this set-up, the stage is able to extend into the audience, which surrounds it on three sides. Often, this means that those in the first several rows of the audience are in close proximity to the actors themselves.
The visually impressive set of “A Man of No Importance,” consisting of a mahogany unit of shelves that mimics the appearance of a classic vintage library, elevates the experience. Although there are the expected books, there are also whiskey bottles and two stained glass window panels — one of Wilde and one of three angelic figures beside a cross — that light up at critical moments of the show. Situated against the unit is a raised platform with music stands and instruments, used by members of the ensemble throughout the show.
Unlike the original version of the musical, the 2022 reimagining of the production calls for the cast to also act as musicians. Accompaniment by the ensemble creates authenticity — each actor looks at home among the Irish orchestration — and the thrust stage easily allows for the cast to serenade every section of the audience.
Though Alfie is the “man of no importance,” the ensemble makes themselves more than memorable in every scene they’re in. Large ensemble numbers like “Streets of Dublin,” the musical’s titular introduction song, and “Going Up” are both lively and immersive. As the bustling, unified actors effortlessly play and sing across the theatre with prop or instrument in hand, the stage faithfully transforms into 1960s Dublin.
