With Eugene O'Neill's classic "Long Day's Journey into Night" as a backdrop, "The Second Girl" is set in the downstairs world of the Tyrone family kitchen in August 1912. Two Irish immigrant servant girls and the chauffeur search for love, success, and a sense of belonging in their new world in this lyrical and poignant world premiere by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Ronan Noone (Brendan, The Atheist) and directed by Campbell Scott (The Atheist).
The Second Girl is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award.
As I often do as I settle in to take in a play, I kook for clues in the set as to how the playwright might be about to tell the story that will unfold once the lights come up on the stage. The 1912 New London kitchen of the Tyrone family estate is perfectly rendered in Santo Loquasto's meticulously detailed design.
The first light that we see is that of an oil lamp and then a votive candle as the cook, Bridget, kneels to begin her day by imploring the aid and protection of the Blessed Virgin. We quickly realize that the actor, the brilliant Kathleen McElfresh, is slaving away on a set that is an actual working kitchen, complete with a coal stove and the sound and smell of bacon sizzling that soon permeates every corner of the theater. Bridget is soon joined by her niece and antagonist, Cathleen, played by the equally brilliant MacKenzie Meehan, recently arrived from Ireland to make her way in the world. Her arrival in New England had been somewhat delayed by an unexpected stop in Nova Scotia after she survived the sinking of the Titanic. As she arrives to work under the heavy wing of her Aunt Bridget, she runs full force into the emotional iceberg that Bridget has become as she seeks to do penance for a youthful indiscretion that led to the out-of-wedlock birth of Daniel, who is being raised back in Ireland by family members. Since being exiled in shame to America, Bridget has received only two letters from home. The first was to announce that her brother had died, succumbing to his habit of imbibing too many "wee drops." The second letter announced that they would like to send Cathleen to work under Bridget, and would she please send the money for her niece's passage across the Atlantic. Early in the play, it becomes clear that Bridget deals with her shame and frustration and sense of isolation by following in the footsteps of her departed brother, and sneaking swallows of whiskey throughout the day.
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| MacKenzie Meehan, Kathleen McElfresh, and Christopher Donahue in the Huntington Theatre Company production of the moving Irish drama The Second Girl by Ronan Noone, directed by Campbell Scott, playing January 16 – February 21, 2015 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion |
There is a third player in this kitchen-sink drama, the chauffeur, Jack Smythe,.played with a subtle and forlorn dignity by Christopher Donahue. Presbyterian Jack has been widowed for one year, and is as desperately lonely as is Catholic Bridget. His advances toward her are rebuffed, given the inner vow that she has made and promise she has prayed to the Blessed Virgin to keep herself pure as a penance for her prior indiscretion. She rebuffs Jack's every advance - whether verbal or physical, except when she is under the influence of her wee drops.
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| Kathleen McElfresh as Bridgety in the Huntington Theatre Company production of the moving Irish drama The Second Girl by Ronan Noone, directed by Campbell Scott, playing January 16 – February 21, 2015 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion |
In the scene depicted in the photo above, Bridget is taking stock of herself. She has been teased into letting down her hair. As she checks her distorted reflection in the convex surface of the coffee pot, she is sobered by the image that is offered back from that gleaming vessel. This is a powerful moment in the play, for the playwright and director have created an indelible image and an apt metaphor for Bridget's lot in life. She is seeing herself reflected in the mirror of an instrument of her servitude.
Brisget and Cathlen drive one another crazy, bickering over almost everything that transpires in the kitchen and beyond. Cathleen aspires to become an actress. She is being tutored by the off-stage Mr..Tyrone, a fading light of the American stage. She has been tasked to read and memorize some Shakespeare, and she often injects Iago speeches into her banter with Bridget. The prim and proper aunt is disgusted with Cathleen's pretensions and failure to maintain her proper station in life. This aspect of their strained relationship embodies the differences between Bridget's world view from the Old Sod and Cathleen's embracing of the ethos of her new American home.
In subtle ways, the action in this drama mirrors that of the play that inspired this work. In "A Long Day's Journey Into Night," Mrs. Tyrone keeps herself enshrouded in a drug-induced fog to keep herself in denial of the fact that her son is dying. In this play, Bridget's drinking helps to drown the pain of her shame and the fact that her son is being raised by others. She fears that a letter may arrive any day announcing that he has died.
This play is a fine evocation of what the Irish immigrant experience must have been like for many Bridgets and Cathleens who came over to make a new life for themselves. I encourage you to come and experience this worthy new work for yourself.
The play runs through February 21st at the Calderwood Pavilion.
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