Photo, Patrick Redmond Mary Murray and Aidan Kelly star in “The Pride of Parnell Street,” currently playing in New York at 59E59 Theaters.

By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

NEW YORK (Sept. 10, 2009) — You never physically see the streets of Dublin in the new off-Broadway play, “The Pride of Parnell Street,” but by the end of this riveting, two-character piece, the capital city has come alive in tears, in blood and in the way its residents live and love. Following the travails of Joe (Aidan Kelly) and Janet (Mary Murray) years after their relationship disintegrated, playwright Sebastian Barry has the two rehash and revisit their marriage, their children and the incident that caused their dissolution.

The 100-minute, intermissionless piece is a breathtakingly effective memory play, a la Brian Friel’s “Faith Healer.”

Joe, first seen lying on a ragged bed with sores upon his body, is waiting for his sickness to win him over. Although it’s never harped on, Joe is seemingly dying of AIDS, a result of his needle-sharing addiction to heroin.

Janet speaks her memories right beside Joe, on an elevated platform that is only a few inches away from his bed, but soon enough feels like a few miles.

Kelly’s Joe and Murray’s Janet go back and forth, delivering stirring monologues in a chronological manner. There’s the first time they met on the rough side of Dublin, their eventual nuptials, the raising of their children, the untimely death of one of those kids and the incident that broke the bliss apart. The brogues of both actors are never too hard to understand, and any local slang is helpfully defined in a glossary. So, when Joe talks of scag, we know he’s delving into the topic of heroin. When Janet says Joe’s blood has Liffey water in it, we realize she’s referencing the river that cuts through Dublin.

Kelly and Murray fascinate with their down-to-earth matter-of-factness, inviting us to listen and learn. They’re as welcoming to listeners as a cup of hot tea and plate of cookies. We become their de-facto friends, therapists and means of connection between one another.

Joe, as he speaks and addresses the audience, seems like a kind-hearted man, a person victimized by circumstance and who has a thrill to live life to its fullest, welcoming bruises and all. And, for the most part, Janet agrees. He was a good father, a good husband and they were a compatible team.

It was the night when Ireland lost the World Cup in 1990 when all these sepia-toned images were brought crumbling down. That night, Joe became someone else — and in some ways he was never able go back to his former self.

Kelly and Murray are consummate performers, opening up their hearts just enough to let you see the scars. Murray has a way of pointedly looking off into the distance in a cold stare, wondering about what her life has become. Her hand movements are small. Her emotions run deep. Her performance is a mélange of human kindness and frustrated empathy.

Kelly is the same way. His Joe is a likable guy, a man you could easily befriend and just as easily see getting in trouble with. The sores that plague his body don’t define him, though they certainly slow him. Every so often he seizes into a painful position, like his whole body were enduring a massive Charlie horse. He walks with a cane and a limp, finding it hard to believe that the man he once was is the man he sees today.

Jim Culleton directs Barry’s words with a subtlety and rhythm that are beautifully balanced. Joe frequents either his bed in the hospital or the small area around it. Janet sits nearby, and even when she walks around Joe’s bed, the two are in different worlds, never catching each others’ eyes. They are together, but isolated — a nice touch by Culleton.

“The Pride of Parnell Street” is certainly meant to be allegorical, explaining the underbelly of Ireland’s recent economic boom. But Barry never lets the story outpace the characters; they may be products of his overall theme, but they are true, real people.

Theirs is a love of whim and chance. Theirs is a story of gritty reality and unforgiving truth. Theirs is a hurt that lingers and a reckoning that seems universal.

“The Pride of Parnell Street” is the first New York production from the Ireland-based Fishamble: The New Play Company, and also one of the first entries in the 1st IRISH theater festival that runs through October. If this gem is any prediction of signs to come, locals will have a tremendous opportunity to experience first-rate Irish theater. “The Pride of Parnell Street” is quite simply brilliant, it transcends the tiny stage at 59E59 Theaters, where it is performing through Oct. 4.

Joe and Janet will stay with you beyond the final blackout. Their remembrance becomes your memories.

“The Pride of Parnell Street” is currently playing 59E59 Theaters at 59 E. 59 St. in New York. Visit www.59e59.org or www.1stirish.org for more information.