Review of Seanachai Theatre Company's The Seafarer

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Seafarer. It was written by Conor McPherson and directed by Matt Miller. It was about a guy named Sharky (Dan Waller) who was taking care of his blind brother Richard (Brad Armacost) and the oldest brother liked to get drunk and he had a friend named Ivan (Ira Amyx) who also liked to get drunk. And Nicky (Shane Kenyon), who was their other friend, also liked to get drunk. But Sharky does not. Mr. Lockhart (Kevin Theis), who has another name but doesn't need to be introduced, doesn't seem to know any of them, but he does know two of them very well. This play is about learning to accept what is coming and mistakes and gambling. It is also about discovering that you don't have to be cranky all the time; it is good to enjoy your friends.

I thought that the character of Ivan was really funny. Through most of the play he couldn't see anything because he didn't have his glasses. And also he really liked alcohol, and that was another of his problems. And also he had to read all the cards for the blind man, but since he couldn't find his glasses he was also almost blind. One of my favorite parts was when he couldn't see his cards right, and he says in a really bland tone, "I just couldn't see my cards right." He uses that tone throughout the play, but that instance was just super funny. You really like this character because he is really funny and I think he seemed like somebody who when he wasn't drunk you would like to be friends with. He is tricky but really funny, like when Sharky left he just grabbed the whiskey from under his chair and started pouring it into coffee mugs. Another time he drank Nicky's beer before giving it to him. I really loved the toast and butter hilarity. I just loved how it crumbled into pieces. He just slapped on the butter, and then he kind of dug the knife into the bread and just messed it around, and it completely disintegrated.

The character of Mr. Lockhart was interesting and cool. He was also sort of a scary character, for a reason that you must go and see the show for. I really liked how Mr. Lockhart knew everyone but didn't know everyone. He seemed like he could be a friendly person--he was very open--but he couldn't be. You didn't exactly feel sorry for him; you felt more scared of him. I wanted to see him being a nice guy for real, not just fake. I thought it was really cool how he seems very mysterious. He thinks of people as collectibles not as human beings. I think that Mr. Lockhart seems threatening, but he can change from threatening to nice by the snap of his fingers.

Nicky, I think, is not what he is trying to be. He is trying to be fancy; he wants people to see him as a hip person. But instead of spending his time at a casino or his girlfriend's house, he is at a old blind guy's house. Not exactly what you'd call a cool cat. He also didn't say the f-word as much as everyone else did; that told you that he wanted people to admire him. His main problem is how he wants everyone to admire him for who he isn't. He puts down money even though there's no chance of him winning because he wants to look cool. I think that Nicky is a mixed-up but awesome character.

There was a blind guy; his name was Richard. His favorite word was the F-word. And he was Sharky's brother. You learn that he is a nice jerk. He's a jerk because of how he treats Sharky and how much he drinks. He was nice because at the end he kind of warmed up to everybody. Richard is really obsessed with winos getting on people's cars. At first I thought that they were saying rhinos, and now I have been told very recently that they are called winos. I thought that they meant the rhinos was like a football team or something, but it was a bunch of drunk people, which was ironic. It was ironic because the three people who actually went out to fight the winos were also alcoholics. Richard drinks because he is blind and wants to be happy. He is afraid of death and sadness and he is also afraid of Sharky leaving again. But at the end he makes a big decision that makes Sharky happier.

Sharky is the main character. He is trying to stop drinking. That makes you like him more, because he's the one person who is not drunk. He treats his brother nicely, and he is never cruel to him. He wants to stay with him as long as he can so he can keep an eye on him and he'll be okay. But he is not always happy to be with Richard, because Richard is not that nice, but he deals with it. I liked how he said the speech about Nicky driving his car because he seemed very angry but it was also funny because you wouldn't really think that he would really get angry about his friend driving the car. But then you figure out that he's not his friend because he is with his ex-girlfriend or ex-wife. He seems like a good person because he is trying to make up for what he's done because he has done a lot of terrible things. That tells you that he is trying to be a good person but not always succeeding. There is a lot of stuff I could give away about him, but I won't say a word.

People who would like this show are people who like card games, forgiveness, and disintegrated toast. People should go see this show because it is funny but it has a lot of lessons, like "don't be an alcoholic" and "you'll be unhappy if you do horrible things" and "if you've already done horrible things, try to make up for them." This show was a great experience for me. It was so funny; I was laughing out loud for most of the show. It ends in such a great and satisfying way you have to go see it. This is a really awesome show.


Photos: Joe Mazza