ONE of the fortunate if trivial side effects of the end of the “troubles” in Northern Ireland was that, once it subsided, so would the flood of imported plays about it.
“Rock Doves,” the new play by Marie Jones, signals the beginning of a scary new genre: the post-troubles play.
Jones, whose “Stones in His Pockets” received acclaimed London and Broadway productions, clearly has the Irish dramatist’s affinity for offbeat, loquacious characters.
She’s populated this work with four of them, all inhabiting a derelict apartment in a run-down section of Belfast: Knacker (Marty Maguire), a hopeless alcoholic fond of watching his nonworking television set; Bella (Natalie Brown), a prostitute who, to put it kindly, has seen better days; Lillian (Tim Ruddy), who makes an unlikely living as a female impersonator, specializing in Tina Turner; and “the Boy” (Johnny Hopkins), who, clearly on the lam, bursts in one day and takes up residence.
It soon becomes apparent that while the “troubles” have ended, trouble hasn’t, with various Loyalist factions vying for control, often of the criminal kind, of their territories.
That subject might have made for an interesting play, albeit one that might have needed some more background exposition for American audiences. But Jones is more interested here in exploiting the comic quirks of her eccentric characters, with predictably daffy dialogue and interactions that prove wearisome over the course of two long hours.
Director Ian McElhinney, who collaborated with the playwright on “Stones,” clearly has a feel for her colorful vision, and has elicited sterling performances from the cast.
But despite its profusion of plot twists in the second half, “Rock Doves” essentially feels like an elongated sketch.
Irish Arts Center, 553 W. 51st St. (212) 868-4444. Through Oct. 28.