Review: THE ONE GOOD THING - OR 'ARE YA PATRICK SWAYZE?' at Washington Stage Guild

In a small coastal town in Ireland, a pair of brothers greet each other one glorious morning on the Emerald  Isle. Except one of them announces he is dead. And he spends a lot of time convincing his brother he’s talking to a ghost.

The premise of Joe Bravaco’s two-hander “The One Good Thing or ‘Are You Patrick Swayze?’” has elements of Irish traditions and the kind of magical notions that seem natural from a land where leprechauns are still a thing. But it could also have been a good episode of “The Twilight Zone.” 

The succinct production of the 40th season-opener at the Washington Stage Guild works well because its brothers are in good hands. Ryan Michael Neely and Chris Stinson have a good brotherly rapport with the full range of trading barbs and rehashing past family lore to eventually exchanging empathy. 

Besides their timing and tone, they both have the kind of Irish accents that are neither exaggerated nor faltering. No dialect coach is credited, but somebody guided them through this minefield. Director Stephen Carpenter glides them through the action, though the duo's interactions could have been slowed a bit to better allow the lines to land. 

The set of Brandon Roak is like the acting - direct and effective. Action takes place in a seaside cottage, suggested by a stone walls with a proximity to the outdoors. The sky over the painted seaside backdrop eventually makes way for sparkles of starlight (lighting by Marianne Meadows). David Bryan Jackson’s sound design begins with the waves of the ocean, but they don’t roar for the whole of the two acts. Rather, they set the scene and subside.

There is strong use of the evocative “I’ll Be Singing” from the 2020 film “Wild Mountain Thyme.” It’s one of Sinéad O’Connor’s final recordings, and one that Bravaco says helped inspire his own play (the movie also involved the participation of the recently deceased). 

Putting Patrick Swayze’s name in the extended title proves a kind of throwaway — it only figures as the answer of a guessing game (or that Swayze obviously starred in the movie “Ghost”). 

For all it does with what it does present, this production of “The One Good Thing” suffers from the usual limitations of only having a cast of two. Sure, it’s easier to produce. But audiences quickly register the low-grade disappointment of never having a chance to see the other characters and family members of whom they speak, though become quite vivid through descriptions of their actions offstage.

Bravaco, whose previous work includes a musical about the OK Corral and an adaptation of a Herman Melville comedy, has a good handle on dramatic structure and shifts the action subtly to indicate changes around the cottage as time goes by, without hitting anyone over the head with it. 

As the brothers talk philosophically about love in their life or the lack of it, they start to plumb the depths of isolation, guilt and longing often prevalent in Irish playwriting. 

As nicely as it came together, I kept thinking it could have been even shorter than it was to get its point across more effectively. But it’s good theater that will only improve beyond this, the first year it’s been produced in regional theaters.

The Stage Guild may feel this play more deeply, as it prominently memorializes the recent passing of an actor, Dylan Morrison Myers, prominently in its program. And it's well-equipped to handle the Irish tale, having produced, in 39 seasons, over half the 50 or so plays of its guiding light, George Bernard Shaw.   

Running time: About 90 minutes including one 10-minute intermission. 

Photo credit: Chris Stinson and Ryan Michael Neely in “One Good Thing - or ‘Are Ya Patrick Swayze’ at Washington Stage Guild. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.