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The Devil and 'The Seafarer'

By Matt Windman

4:29 PM EST, December 6, 2007

Jim Norton, Sean Mahon in Conor McPherson's 'The Seafarer' on Broadway (Joan Marcus)

Whether Broadway will bounce back financially following the two-and-a-half week stagehands strike remains to be seen. But in any event, it shot forward like a rocket artistically this week with the opening of four impressive plays: "Cymbeline" at Lincoln Center, Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention," Tracy Letts' "August: Osage County," and now Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer."

Conor McPherson, a much-acclaimed 36-year-old Irish playwright whose work is now often transferred to Broadway, is clearly attracted to the supernatural. In "The Weir," four friends share increasingly disturbing ghost stories in a rural pub. In "Shining City," which played Manhattan Theater Club last year, a psychiatrist's ex-wife haunts his study, even making a surprise cameo in the play's final moment.

"The Seafarer," set in a small town north of Dublin on Christmas Eve, fixates on Sharky, who has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, aging brother who's recently gone blind. Some old drinking buddies are also holed up at the house, hoping to play some cards. But the night's big shock arrives when Sharky learns that the mysterious stranger with the expensive coat and suit is, in fact, the devil. And to make matters worse, Sharky needs to defeat the devil in a game of poker in order to save his soul.

In the play's most gripping moment, the devil describes hell to Sharky, which is supposedly a place of loneliness and self-loathing. "There is truly no-one to love you," he says. "And it's so cold that you don't even feel your angry tears freezing in your eye latches and your bones ache with deep perpetual agony"

McPherson also directed the production, which arrives in mint condition from the National Theatre of Great Britain. In spite of the thin plot, the excellent acting displayed by the small cast makes "The Seafarer" a fairly enlivening experience.

Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th St, 212-239-6200, $76.50-98.50. Tues 8pm, Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 3pm. Open Run.