“What makes a man?”
This was the question of the hour last weekend at Westco Café, which hosted the appropriately titled play “How to be a Man in West Belfast.”
“Is it big muscles?” One character ventures. “Making lots of money?”
Anyone who attends orientation week at Wesleyan will become familiar with these types of questions faster than you can say “gender-neutral pronouns.” In lieu of deconstructing or consciousness-raising, though, “Belfast” (written by Benjamin Firke ’12 and directed by Justin Wayne ’12) approaches gender issues through the troubled life of Liam McLoughlin, a nerdy high school student coming of age in early 1990s Northern Ireland. Liam’s older brother Michael is tough, and a member of the Irish Republican Army. Michael wants Liam to join in the fun of pipe-bombs and random beatings, but Liam would rather spend his days mastering this brand-spanking-new contraption called “the internet.” Though the premise of this play (a boy comes of age through the influence of other men) has been around since the dawn of civilization, “Belfast” is a funny, gritty, yet often tender play that casts new light on masculinity, family and violence.
Liam is an awkward high school student whose mother and father are both either gone or dead. Though obviously smart, he does poorly in school, until the benevolent Father Casey (Julian Silver) takes Liam under his wing and gives him tutoring lessons in exchange for java-script work. Liam’s renewed interest in his academic and economic future angers Michael, and when Liam’s grandmother asks Michael to “make Liam a man,” Michael is more than happy to oblige. What “being a man” looks like for Michael, of course, is more on the “big muscles” end of the masculinity spectrum than “build a family and respect all life.” Once Liam gets a girlfriend, Michael feels his influence on his younger brother waning even farther, and his behavior turns violent.
Not every freshman at a university with a course load like Wesleyan’s can boast the feat of having written their own play, and among the freshmen playwrights we do have, few probably produce anything worth viewing. Firke, however, has created a play that is not only well-written, but even more delightfully, entertaining. Characters are intriguing and complex, the dialogue is often hilarious, and the play as a whole is so splendidly researched that the audience feels submerged in an entirely different world. There is often more information about Ireland provided by characters than the audience can absorb, but this is okay, because it makes us feel safe in the hands of the play’s creators. “Belfast,” of course, suffers from a few limitations that are understandable given the scope of Firke’s script; the relationship between the two brothers, especially towards the end, could have used more development. Likewise, Michael never comes off as awe-inspiring or mature, but always just seems kind of nuts. Given this quality, Liam should have no qualms about rejecting his influence and affection. I also would have appreciated more details about exactly what Liam did at the end of the play to warrant his punishment. However, as a whole the play is quite impressive.
Alex Barkats ’12 portrays the conflicted and awkward Liam with ease. There are many points in the play where Barkats makes the audience laugh out loud (“God put those tits on the screen!” he argues pitifully to his mother). Michaela Swee ‘12 is perfectly cast as Caitlin, the spunky, Milton-obsessed, and bitch-ingénue, and Ameen Beydoun ’11 is also convincing (and hot) as Michael. Though at times the acting edged on over-dramatic, as an all underclassman cast, they did wonderfully. Wesleyan should be excited about what these actors will do in the future.
Written and directed by two students, and running over an hour and a half long, “Belfast” is truly a labor of love. Though the set was meager, Firke and Wayne have created something they both should be proud of.
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