Kennedy @ Globe weighs in on BRENDAN

Review: Noone's Brendan Is at Home in Boston
By Louise Kennedy, Globe Staff | October 25, 2007
Fluid, funny, and heartfelt, "Brendan" is Ronan Noone's most expertly crafted play yet. And that's saying something.
.... "Brendan" places its central character in the midst of complicated relationships: with fellow Irish immigrants in Boston, with the American women he pursues with touching awkwardness, and most of all with his mother back home.
Brendan's relationship with Mammy is particularly complex, not least because she's dead. ... the play finds ways to be about one particular guy, Brendan, while also saying some interesting things about the United States, Ireland, and what it means to change your allegiance - or at least your passport - from one to the other.
The Huntington has given "Brendan," which Noone developed as a playwriting fellow with the company, a stylish and substantial production. Alexander Dodge's set begins by capturing a specific, and quintessential, Boston sight: It's the mirrored walls of the Hancock Tower, reflecting the older architecture around it.... with sections sliding out or swiveling open to represent an apartment, a pub, or a courtroom, as Brendan moves haltingly along the path to citizenship....
Nancy E. Carroll ... as the Woman {is} charming, exasperating, amusing, controlling;
Mother and son are surrounded by a capable cast, with Ciaran Crawford particularly vivid as the foul-mouthed joker Steveo, and Natalie Gold bringing a nice mix of timidity and strength to Brendan's attractive neighbor, Rose. But what matters here, what we'll remember, is the way Brendan talks to his mother, and the way she talks to him - and the way, inevitably, Noone brings them to a point where they can accept the gulf that now lies between them.
Brendan may never see his mother, or his motherland, again. But so deftly does Noone trace his journey that we, with Brendan, come to understand: Nothing loved is ever wholly lost.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.