Inis Nua and Drexel University present 'Dublin by Lamplight'

The play, an American premiere by Inis Nua, proved more moving on second viewing than I recalled. Maybe two recent viewings of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars sensitized me to the tragic desperation lurking below a uniquely Irish broad comic surface.

Farcically driven

Joey Teti plays Willy, a struggling playwright premiering his pro-Ireland epic The Wooing of Emer as the inaugural production of his "Irish National Theatre of Ireland" in 1904. Farcical problems ensue when he needs 10 pounds to secure a lease that leading actress and suffragette Eva St. John (Rachel Brodeur) will co-sign, but he's penniless, and then mugged and relieved of his watch en route to the pawnshop.

All this occurs on the day that England's king visits Dublin. Eva protests his arrival, and ends up in jail. Could costume girl Maggie (Marlyn Logue) play her role? She's in love with actor Frank (Jacob Kemp), who's plotting his own anti-English action. Drew Sipos plays a stagehand desperately in love with Maggie, and Mike Dees, the cast's only veteran of Inis Nua's 2011 production, shines as flamboyant actor Martyn Wallace.

The capable ensemble plays over 30 roles. As West's script requires, they narrate their action in third person, often written with lurid flair, such as the delicious description of a seductive woman who's "part liquid, part tentacle." They also deliver their lines straight out to the audience like vaudeville comics. John Lionarons's constant original piano accompaniment, reminiscent of silent film scores, exaggerates the humor and melodrama, while also gently lifting tender moments.

Cartoonish insight

That genuine characters emerge is all the more impressive given Maggie Baker's superb clothing and make-up, which create a distinctively non-realistic theatrical style. The actors wear garishly detailed whiteface akin to Kabuki and beautifully constructed period costumes, many of them quickly donned pieces that define minor characters. At first, along with Reing's precisely choreographed staging, it's all cartoonishly overwhelming, albeit fascinating, but the broad style doesn't prevent us from appreciating the characters and their stories.

Never lost in the backstage shenanigans as Dublin By Lamplight builds to that hilariously chaotic opening night performance is the play's insight into a society threatening to explode in violence while yearning for freedom.