Some plays are for the audience. Some are for the actors. Sea Marks, written byGardner McKay, a one-time actor with a brief career in the 1960s TV series “Adventures in Paradise,” falls in the last category. McKay would later become the drama critic for The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner from 1977 to 1982 and author several other plays and novels, including the thriller “Toyer,” his short acting career informs this two-actor romantic drama.
They correspond for a year, until Timothea returns to the Heads for another wedding, and then invites Colin to visit her. As he stays on, she tries to turn him from a rustic seafarer into a professional writer, including publishing a book of his writings, “Sea Sonnets,” that she doesn’t tell him about until it’s a fait accompli. He’s confounded, not pleased to see his letters in print. Moreover, he tells her she got the title wrong. He’d have called it “Sea Marks,” a phrase that refers to buoys and other pointers to dangers in the water.
The predictable interactions between the barely believable bumpkin and the city girl make the play much more of an actors’ showpiece than a riveting drama. The play is clearly more fun to act than it is to watch.
Eamonn McDonagh, as Colin, plays up to the hilt, particularly in a second-act monologue, yet his often dry delivery redeems Colin from caricature. Robin M. Hughes’ Timothea appears more subtle and restrained, but she also has her moments. They get the chemistry between the two unlikely lovers just right.
Poor sound quality mars the production. McDonagh comes by his Irish accent honestly, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a bit of a strain for American ears to understand — especially when he delivers asides while turned away from the audience. Hughes also lacks projection. Their soft-voiced approach might have worked with better amplification, but the hanging microphones aren’t up to the job. There’s a fine balance between making dialogue clear and overmiking, and Sound Designer William A. Franz errs on the side of quiet. Audience response indicated that not everyone had the problems hearing I did, so the sound might be clearer in other sections of the theater.
The incidental music, in comparison, sounds overly loud. The song selections, which place the otherwise relatively timeless play into the early 1980s, are inappropriate for this sedate drama.
Originally written in the 1970s and performed at regional theaters around the country,Sea Marks was filmed for PBS in 1976 and made its off-Broadway debut, to lukewarm reviews, in 1981.
Rating: ★★½
Sea Mark continues through October 24th at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights (map), with performances Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25, and are available by phone (847-577-2121) or online through Tickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at MetropolisArts.com. Free parking in public garage behind the theater(Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
artists
cast
Robin M. Hughes, Eamonn McDonagh
behind the scenes
Robin M. Hughes (artistic director, producer); Carly Franz (artistic manager); William A. Franz (production manager, resident sound designer); Eamonn McDonagh (resident tech director and scenic designer); Lisa Hale (asst. costume designer); Theresa Neumayer (props); Mike Wagner (master electrician, resident lighting designer); Erin Edelstein (stage manager); Cindy Ottensmeyer (wardrobe, crew)
