“O’Reilly’s production doesn’t hit any of the themes too hard. If he does locate the brutality in much of the comedy, he treats a grim play lightly. If you’re worried that you may not find gun violence especially funny, just lean back and luxuriate in the language...When the play takes its uncorrectable skid into tragedy, there’s enough dramatic force to make you feel for the characters, even the ones you laughed at. At nearly 100 years old, O’Casey’s play still packs heat.”
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“The first half of ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’ is a tenement comedy that is almost sleepy...The characters are poor, yet rich in the time to talk...As a play, ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’ is a bit schematic. That’s why it’s the least frequently produced of O'Casey's Dublin Cycle; you can see the plot's melodramatic turnings a mile down the road...Luckily, director Ciarán O'Reilly presides over an embarrassment of riches from lead to bit player...Irish Rep treats this relatively minor work like royalty.”
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"Mr. O’Reilly has once again turned the company’s 148-seat mainstage auditorium into an immersive space that places you squarely in the middle of the shabby world of O’Casey’s characters. The cast is miraculously right, though none of the 10 actors appear to be 'performing'...O’Casey never lets us forget the bloody toll exacted by those prepared to pursue it at all costs. That is the 'message' of 'The Shadow of a Gunman,' and it couldn’t be more relevant here and now."
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“Thrilling new production...Superbly performed...As excellent a production of the play as you're ever likely to see...Characters come off as Shakespearean clichés, but the actors...get us through...That quibble aside, ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’ showcases O'Casey's unquestionable talent for blending the comic with the tragic. O'Reilly makes the transition from one to the other as natural as day to dusk...The realism of the production is one of its strongest suits.”
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"They're not an especially appealing lot, at least in Ciarán O'Reilly's overhearty production; they keep banging through the doorway, bursting with energy and oratory, seemingly ready to take part in a farce that the playwright hasn't written...If the first act comes off as a rather too-zesty serving of local color, the second act is an immersion in a terror that seems all too familiar today. O'Reilly's staging acquires a muscularity it lacked."
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"''The Shadow of a Gunman,' is an uneven misfire...Directed with a lack of cohesive tone by O'Reilly, the biggest problem with this revival is the actors aren't working in the same style...Both James Russell and Meg Hennessy are on the right wavelength with regards to O'Casey's taught style...Their tenement neighbors, on the other hand, are too over-the-top and overwrought in their characterizations. The contrast is jarring and the play's overall impact is severely lessened."
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“For the most part, this fine, enduring play receives a winning and vital production by O’Reilly...The pacing seems to lag in a few places...Which suggests that not all of the actors are entirely secure in their characterizations...O’Reilly’s staging of the drama’s climax and conclusion, which are complex in action and emotion, is handled and performed extremely well...The general excellence of ‘Gunman’ makes one look forward to seeing the next two shows in its O’Casey Cycle.”
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“This bracing and ultimately haunting production reminds us—under the witty, vigorous direction of O’Reilly—the playwright had a keen eye for human frailties and foibles...O’Reilly has filled his cast with fine players who drive home ‘Gunman‘s’ harrowing elements while fulfilling its rich comic potential...Given the troubled, polarized state of our own nation...’The Shadow of a Gunman’ provides a powerful reminder of all we still have to be grateful for."
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