BRAVO: WTC feels the 'luck o’ the Irish' with performances and auditions through March

We’re weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day but the celebration of things Irish has already begun at the Warehouse Theatre Company. The current WTC offering, “Outside Mullingar,” will be on stage through a matinee on March 2, and the following weekend will feature two script-in-hand presentations of another Irish gem, “Dancing at Lughnasa.” True to Warehouse form, however, the company’s focus is on more than one place and the next batch of offerings will soon be in production.

The Warehouse opening night for “Outside Mullingar” was on the celebration day of another saint, St. Valentine. It was a fitting date for the debut of this romantic comedy set in rural Ireland. Judging from the standing ovation at curtain call, the date-night audience in attendance agreed.

In “Mullingar,” painfully shy Anthony Reilly (Matt DuFault) has spent his entire life working his family’s remote farm. Equally reclusive Rosemary Muldoon (Cait Towry) has spent her life on the farm right next door. She’s determined to have Anthony, but as they’re straddling 40, the years are slipping away. Both have duties to their ailing parents. But while Rosemary’s mother, Aoife (Grace Schefter), is focused on leaving her daughter with a promising future, Anthony’s father, Tony (Vance Jennings) is ready to sell the farm from lack of faith in his son’s ability to carry on the Reilly name. In this very Irish story filled with deep poetic passion, Anthony and Rosemary fight their way towards some kind of solid ground and happiness.

Playwright John Patrick Shanley was inspired to write “Outside Mullingar” after his first visit to Ireland when he was in his forties. In a New York Times essay from 2013, he shared his take on the Irish storytelling roots, saying, “Part of the reason the Irish developed the gift of the gab was simple. They lived on an island. They had to get along. Not that they did get along. But they had to try. So, a style of speaking developed that allowed them to say awful things. With charm.” In a country less than half the size of the state of Washington where oral tradition includes traveling professional storytellers, it’s no wonder that the ability to tell a good story would be shared by so many, or that language would become a type of currency.

The second tip-o’-the cap to the Irish at the WTC takes place on March 7 and 8. They’ll present the next edition in their new script-in-hand series with Brian Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa.” This play was a spontaneous selection coming about immediately following the auditions for “Outside Mullingar.”

One of the greatest concerns of a director during the casting experience in the community theater setting is whether enough people with the right skillsets will come out. After all, it’s no exaggeration to say that every audition is nerve-racking for those who audition. From veteran performer to first timer, they’re putting themselves out there and taking a risk every single time they step on the stage. That can be doubly true when a role requires an accent, as “Outside Mullingar” does. But the number of people who had that skill far outnumbered the cast size, and when the tryout process was done, a casual conversation about the bounty of qualified actors led to a “what if” search for a way to involve more people in WTC performance.

The facts were that more women than men auditioned, and that most of those women could sound as Irish as Irish gets. So “Mullingar” producer Sandy Jennings – who had been looking for a script-in-hand project to direct – said, “What if we did ‘Dancing at Lughnasa?’ It has roles for five women and needs just three men.” And just like that, the project was in process and outreach began.

Set in the fictional Irish village of Ballybeg, Ireland, “Dancing at Lughnasa” is a memory play, told from the perspective of an adult Michael. He recalls the summer of 1936 which he spent at his aunt's home when he was just seven years old. Playwright Brian Friel’s play - a 1992 Tony Award winner for “Best Play” - is a masterpiece. There is simply no finer example of the poetic power of Irish language, or the Irish sensibility toward family and fate.

“Dancing at Lughnasa” rehearsals will begin March 3. The script-in-hand series features just a three-night rehearsal process before presenting the play to an audience. As was the case for the script-in-hand presentation of “Misery” earlier this month, “Lughnasa” will once again offer complimentary hors d’oeuvre and wine purchase options through the Warehouse’s pairing with Yakima Valley Vintners, the Vineyard and Winery Technology Program at Yakima Valley College.

The Emerald Isle isn’t the sole focus at the Warehouse Theatre over the coming month though. Next Monday and Tuesday nights at 6 p.m., director Angel Saucedo will hold auditions for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”- a play set in Edwardian England. It’s a modern musical done in the style of classic farce, combining the best of the past with a contemporary sensibility and humor that earned it the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical.

And auditions for another script-in-hand event will break new ground for the Warehouse Theatre Company on Saturday March 15. WTC board president Chelle Bos is casting Dolores Prida’s play “Botánica – Una Comedia de Milagros” (“Botany - A Comedy of Miracles”) starting at 10 a.m. that Saturday. “Botánica” will be the first ever Spanish-language play presented by the company. Bos is looking for actors aged 16 and up to tell this story to a Yakima audience.

“Botánica” is the story of three generations of women living in New York City. They work to find their individual identities while protecting their family bonds and traditions. The language in the play will require that successful auditioners be at ease reading in Spanish. The play is slated for performance on March 29.

While the actual St. Patrick’s Day arrives in a few weeks – and with it, all the hoopla and “wearin’ o’ the green” – the WTC is celebrating now. But as “Mullingar’s” Tony Reilly says, they “have a cool eye on tomorrow” and the task of bringing the next show to the stage is already underway. The company will soon announce its 78th season of plays and the cycle of play making will continue.

They feel the “luck o’ the Irish” for certain.

• Vance Jennings is executive director of the Warehouse Theatre Company. The company contributes a column in Explore every four weeks.