Keegan Theatre’s production of An Irish Carol by Matthew J. Keenan holds all the charm and heart of the original Dickens tale, except this time with a tad more profanity, and booze. A staple tradition of the DC theatre scene, An Irish Carol is in its 9th annual production for Keegan and hasn’t lost any bit of vitality or its classic Irish wit.
The cast is fronted by Kevin Adams as David, the Scrooge personality. Adams’s performance as a miserly, griping pub owner is entirely believable. He embodies the penny-pincher skillfully and his deadpan is absolute gold. He is joined by his new Polish bartender, Bartek, played by Josh Adams. Adams’s performance is heartfelt, either eliciting a chorus of laughter or “awws.”
Followed by Dave Jourdan who plays sort of friend to David and a frequent visitor to his pub, Jim. And another friend Frank, played by Timothy Hayes Lynch, plays a similar role as Jim, except with more dirty jokes. These two are the perfect foils to Adams’s David. Both consistently armed with a clever quip or a funny story, their performances really make you want to believe in the potential David possesses.
The story is far more touching than I expected it to be, with a moral we’ve heard a hundred times, but it somehow seems new. The show and its performers do an excellent job delivering a story we don’t know we need to hear again, but are glad we do.
