Some plays just get better with age. An Irish Carol, now in its 14th year at DC’s Keegan Theatre, is one of those gems. When I first saw Matthew J. Keenan’s holiday play back in 2017, I was impressed by the clever updating of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with modern stand-ins for Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and other broadly sketched characters. This time, it was the profound humanity that stood out.
Redemption sometimes appears in the unlikeliest of places. The age-old Dennehy’s Pub, masterfully created by Scenic Designer (and playwright) Matthew J. Keenan and Set Dressing Designer Cindy Landrum Jacobs, has seen its share of unruly mockery and drunken fisticuffs over the years. Under the wise direction of Mark A. Rhea and a talented cast of lovable miscreants and young dreamers, it becomes a place of grace. An Irish Carol offers up a lively mix of passion and wit to deliver its message of forgiveness and hope. It ends just as Dickens would wish.
