Three Days of Rain  by Richard Greenberg – Company D Theatre – runs at the New Theatre until July 25th.

Walker went missing after the death of his father. His sister Nan feared the worst but when he suddenly turns up in New York, she travels from Boston to meet him. Walker is a difficult man, filled with mood swings and complex emotional issues related to his father, the brilliant architect Ned Janeway. The two siblings prepare to hear their father’s will along with Pip, the son of Theo Wexler, Ned’s business partner.

The play is broken into two halves, each set in a different time with the focus changing from one generation to the next. This play was written by the American playwright Richard Greenberg and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1998. It is a play that focuses on character and in truth the plot is quite small in scope. It delves into the complex relationships between the characters and the reasons behind their anguish. The play is set in a small Manhattan apartment where Ned and Theo worked and lived during the early days of their architectural practice. The stage in the New Theatre is filled with tables, chairs, a drawing board and a mattress thrown onto the floor. It is a humble apartment by anyone’s standards.

The three cast members have to play two characters, as they change between the different generations of the family. This is quite a difficult task for any actor and especially Michael McLaughlin, who plays Ned and Walker, two men who suffer from a variety of mental health issues. These are roles that would challenge veteran actors but the cast do an admirable job. Company D have a habit of finding compelling work of this nature, after their production of Collected Stories in the Teachers’ Club last year. While Greenberg is not exactly an unknown, his work is rarely performed in Ireland and this play is extremely well written and has some interesting characters.

Cast – Lisa Tyrrell, Michael McLaughlin & David Scott

Directed by David Scott

Photo by Roger Kenny

Three Days of Rain runs at the New Theatre until July 25th.