Flanagan’s Wake is set in an Irish Pub. In Ireland. A wake is held for the mourners to keep vigil (the casket on the premises) for the loved one, on the way to his last reward. Rosaries are prayed, anecdotes shared, toasts proposed. Flanagan’s Wake is perhaps less somber an endeavor. The closed casket is far upstage, and his friends are visiting and hoisting stout. The departed’s girlfriend is in attendance and (naturally) she keeps trying to climb into the casket. Too often the women in Flanagans’s Wake must endure disparagement for the frequency of their nighttime recreation (bed blanket bingo) though certainly, it’s a given that the guys are all horndogs. (Who knew?) If a stereotype of blue collar Irish culture is omitted, it is not for want of trying.
On the way in, they assign a name tag, so you are easy pickens for the amusement of actor and audience alike. As we are settling in, they ask for a show of hands from all the Catholics. I asked if Episcopalians counted, and they dismissed me, loudly and without thought. Throughout the show they pulled audience members onto the stage, swinging from friendly and patient, to cheerfully disdainful. Raucous and rowdy and awash in high spirits. It’s marvelous how it seems like an authentic wake (not that I’d know) when clearly it isn’t. The good Father seems especially churlish (like Brother Theodore?) abusing audience improvisation with remarks like: Well, that was stupid, or What you were thinking? Why should we laugh at such jibes and taunts? It’s not caustic, perhaps just another patch in this joyfully ridiculous quilt.
Gotta give mad props to the cast and crew of Flanagan’s Wake and Allen Contemporary Theatre for taking the pulse, of these so often disappointing times. I was certainly trying my best to chase away those pesky, cold-hearted blues when I headed to ACT for a Saint Patrick’s Day matinee. Seems this preposterous, deadpan comedy, with it’s shameless use of puns, shaggy dog stories, improvisation and stereotypes (no one is spared, especially the Irish) was just the remedy I was aching for. Right about now I’m thinking we’re all famished for wisecracking merriment. Treat yourself to some playful comfort.
Allen Contemporary Theater presents Flanagan’s Wake, playing March 15th-31st, 2024. 1206 East Main Street #105, Allen, TX 75002. 844-822-8849. allencontemporarytheatre.net