The Smuggler (Irish Repertory Theatre) NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsMember Reviews (20)
See it if Thought provoking play about immigrants. Well staged and directed.
Don't see it if Long monologs make it slow at times.
See it if you enjoy long monologues, well delivered. Fun barroom showmanship. Raises question of how immigrants can get ahead (including citizens).
Don't see it if you want profundity. Facile justification for bad acts. Everyone's a villain. Long, even at 70+mins. Many forced rhymes. Gr. set, well-used.
See it if you like a well told story of an immigrant that is both entertaining and thought provoking. The actor is very personable and the set is fun.
Don't see it if you don't like one person shows or don't like talk of immigration. There is language and some of the talk is mature so don't bring the kids. Read more
See it if Dark and funny about people take advantage of other people. The stage is a bar.
Don't see it if Not light, make you think. One man show.
See it if A very dark play about illegal immigration & those who take advantage of them. Tremendous acting!
Don't see it if If you prefer a lighter topic, then skip this one. I
See it if This is a superbly crafted one man show. You enjoy plays with a contemporary historical context. You enjoy Irish theatre.
Don't see it if You have to have an elaborate set and costumes and a 20 piece orchestra to make you feel as if you are watching the best of the best theatre
See it if one man show about immigrants & price of the American dream is food 4 your thoughts, pub setting invites U, Irish accents lull U
Don't see it if don't want 2 think about what we end up agreeing to just to get on, basement pub settings make you claustrophobic
See it if you want a great story that is original and unexpected
Don't see it if you don't like one man shows and characters who are morally ambiguous.
Critic Reviews (8)
"If 'The Smuggler' aims to be about the price of the American dream and the moral cost of being a successful American citizen, it takes more than a few measures of doggerel from a black-market bartender to do so."
Read more
“Mellamphy is a dynamic presence, shifting easily among male and female roles and a variety of accents, while showing off some damn impressive cocktail-mixing moves.”
Read more
“ ‘The Smuggler’ does raise enough troubling questions about what being an American truly means in this day and age for Finnegan's extended barroom anecdote to be worth seeing and contemplating.”
Read more
“There is much food for thought in ’The Smuggler,’ and much of it leaves a bitter taste. But you'll be glad you partook.”
Read more
“While the verse format is less effective in serious moments—forcing sentences into specific rhythms undermines the emotions of a scene.”
Read more
"Be advised, the drinks, and also the plot, are served with a twist."
Read more
With his throaty Irish accent and magnetic presence, Michael Mellamphy dazzles for 85 minutes as a legal Irish immigrant unemployed bartender who gleefully embraces a life of crime in author Ronán Noone absorbing contemporary solo play. It lives up to its billing as a “thriller in rhyme,” with its punchy rhyming sentences and gritty film noir-style plot twists and turns among corrupt police officers, vicious human traffickers and scheming strivers.
Read more
“The performance is a physical as well as verbal feat. Bagley’s direction of Mellamphy is skillful and well-paced, energizing the 70-minute play.’The Smuggler,’ however, leaves the moral quandary of thievery and smuggling a tangled mess.”
Read more