Joe Hanrahan has run another of his one-man shows up the flagpole. Should we salute again?
He's offering "Solemn Mockeries" at Tower Grove Abbey, a new play about an 18th Century forger. Not too promising a subject? Oh, please. Con men are almost inevitably fascinating, and given Hanrahan's ability to inhabit his characters, the audience has a good chance of being drawn in.
William Henry Ireland – who really existed – has taken to the stage to explain the folly of his youth when he forged Shakespeare's signature, and then longer pieces attributed to the Bard. Wearing an exquisitely shabby coat and in moderate dishabille, Hanrahan, who surely has the largest cowlick of any actor working in St. Louis currently, makes his case with all the earnest modesty that surely helped Ireland along his road to peridtion.
One guy onstage, helped by several people like Taylor Steward, who created the costume, Krista Tettaton, who pulled out all the carefully chosen props like the "courting chair" that keep things simple but right, and Tyler Duenow's lighting. Uncredited is the frock-coated gent who strolls out to change and flourish the hand-lettered signs that begin each of the two acts, but who I suspect is Tyler Linke, the stage manager. No dialogue, but he gets laughs.
The play, by Rick Creese, loses a certain amount of momentum in the second act, that not-uncommon problem in so many works. And perhaps the author is a little too Freudian in blaming Ireland's malfeasance on his relationship with his father. Still, especially for history buffs, it's a worthwhile evening. And frankly, with Hanrahan, it's always a good gamble to see what he's been working on.
Solemn Mockeries
through January 18, 2014
Tower Grove Abbey