Steppin' Out
Story
Mostly Irish Theater Company is taking its final curtain call
By Heather Zimmerman
When the Mostly Irish Theatre Company next takes the stage, the show will mark the group's 20th anniversary and its swan song.
The company celebrates 20 years and brings them to a close with an evening of one-acts, monologues, readings and songs Nov. 10, 7 p.m. at Nordahl Hall, 580 W. Parr Ave, Los Gatos.
Combining these two milestones suits an event that organizer and producer Peggy Rose describes as a wake. "We're not proclaiming the death; we're celebrating the life it had," she says of the theater company founded by her late husband, actor and director John Rose O'Riordan.
The Mostly Irish Theatre Company began in 1987, after O'Riordan retired from working for 27 years for the clothier Brooks Brothers. "He was a professional actor, and that was part of his career for many years," Rose notes. In fact, "O'Riordan" was a stage name, initially added to his given name, John Rose, because another "John Rose" was already registered with the Actors Equity union.
When O'Riordan moved with his family to San Jose in the 1960s, he worked with many local companies, including the Saratoga Drama Group. But O'Riordan, a proud Irish-American, hoped to start a company that could celebrate his Irish heritage. "That was John's dream for a long time," Rose says. "Even when he was still working, I think he had this idea in mind."
The Mostly Irish Theatre Company launched on Nov. 20, 1987, with a staged reading of Seumas O'Kelly's one-act, The Weaver's Grave. Soon after, the group became a nonprofit and began staging full-length plays, primarily traditional Irish dramas. "We feel we need to perpetuate the Irish dramatic tradition. This is a cultural and necessary value to us," O'Riordan wrote in the company's mission statement.
O'Riordan served as artistic director and also directed many of Mostly Irish's productions. Rose acted as a general assistant to O'Riordan and is currently the secretary of the company's board of directors.
In the early '90s, the group started staging plays by Bay Area writers, including Cathal Gallagher, a native of Ireland and the founder of the South Bay's Quo Vadis Theatre Company. Gallagher wrote two plays that were presented by the company, including the one-act Anything to Declare?
The Mostly Irish Theatre Company staged productions in churches, halls and pubs, as well as small theaters. During the mid-'90s, the group's performances became a regular part of the Downtown Arts Series, a multicultural showcase presented by the city of San Jose.
In 1995, the Mostly Irish Theatre Company traveled to Ireland with a program of two plays with Bay Area roots, Gallagher's Anything to Declare? and A Flag to Fly, by Chris Matthews of Santa Cruz. The plays were performed at Writers Week, a celebrated festival of Irish literature held in the town of Listowel.
But The Mostly Irish Theatre Company also made a point to live up to all of its name. The "mostly" was meant to leave the company some room to stage works that weren't necessarily Irish, as it did with Stan Harris' Fat Rose and Squeaky, about the friendship between two elderly women, and Abie's Irish Rose, Anne Nichols' comedy about the romance between a Jew and an Irish Catholic. "He was a very intuitive person," Rose says of O'Riordan and his affinity for choosing shows. "He looked for plays that were thoughtful, and had something to say for humankind, not just for the Irish."
In 2002, O'Riordan directed the U.S. premiere of Mike Finn's Pigtown. It would be the last of more than 20 shows he had directed for the Mostly Irish Theatre Company. O'Riordan died on St. Patrick's Day, 2003. Without his passion, Rose says, the company no longer had its driving force. "When John died, the charisma, the heart and soul of the whole thing disappeared too," she says. The group did go on to present one more regular production plus several small community programs during 2004 and 2005, but it hasn't been active since.
In the spirit of celebrating the company's heyday, the "Last Hurrah" on Nov. 10 offers some familiar works, and some new ones. A shortened version of The Weaver's Grave is on the program. "It's a favorite," Rose says. "We started with that and we figured we should end with it." Also, Karie Vaughan and Mary Elizabeth O'Connor, who starred in the original 1999 production of Fat Rose and Squeaky, reprise their roles in a scene from the play. Other highlights include a monologue from Marina Carr's The Mai, and the one-acts The Pure of Heart by John B. Keane and Oliphant Down's Wealth and Wisdom. Actors who have regularly performed with the company, along with some newcomers, will be featured.
The show is presented as a joint venture with the Irish Social Club of Santa Clara County, a longtime supporter of the company. Over the years, the club has promoted productions and helped with fundraisers. The Mostly Irish Theatre Company has performed for the club at least once a year.
From now on, if the club or another community group wants to see a performance by the Mostly Irish Theatre Company, it's not outside the realm of possibility, since Rose is retaining rights to the name. But she says, there won't be any more large-scale shows. "If we do anything, it will just be a collection of a few people who want to get together and entertain a group."
The suggested donation, to help defray costs, is $5-$10. For more information, call 408.264.8673.
