By Fern Siegel (Posted 11/2/24)

Art is a demanding lover. And often, there is little room for anything else.

That’s the case for Beiv (Kate Mulgrew), Ireland’s premiere feminist artist, living on a remote island off the coast of West Cork. The isolation — and the raw beauty of the ocean — sounds ideal for an obsessed artist.

But it’s so much more.

The Beacon, now off-Broadway at the Irish Rep, is a moving family drama and semi-thriller. It packs emotional punch, addressing a host of issues: murder, guilt, betrayal, sex, the nature of truth and the lies we tell ourselves in order to live.

Beiv has left Dublin for the family’s summer home — a decision that stuns her software engineer son Colm (Zach Appelman). Why return to a village that believes she murdered her husband? He disappeared during an evening sail 10 years earlier and suspicions have lingered since. Even more inexplicable, his mother has knocked down most of the walls of her home. She’s now on view to anyone who looks through the windows.

But her indifference to prying eyes, or an annoying podcaster (David Mattar Merten) revisiting the murder claims, is telling. Even when Colm brings his much younger, overly friendly new American wife (Ayana Workman) for a visit, Beiv is nonplussed. Long divorced from his father, and the founder of a female arts colony on the island, Beiv is more maverick than parent.  I was a “ferociously selfish” mother, she tells her son.

It’s not that she doesn’t care. It’s that she cares more about herself. That forces Colm to wrestle with his own expectations and obligations. As the tension mounts, we’re drawn back to Beiv’s blood orange painting. Is it just an abstract, or does it symbolize something else?

The strength of Nancy Harris’ well-written play, especially in the second act, is the nuances of each relationship. Mother-son, husband-wife and the complicated history Colm has with Donal (Sean Bell), his childhood friend. Donal isn’t surprised he’s married, but shocked it’s to a woman. The drama is well-named: A beacon is a prominent light, usually set high on a hill, that acts as a warning or signal. Here, the light of truth will gradually shine through the cracks in the relationships, however confusing or difficult it may be.

Director Marc Atkinson Borrull nicely calibrates the tension, aided by Colm McNally’s beautiful but dangerous water projections and Liam Bellman-Sharpe’s evocative sound design. He gets strong performances from his cast. Mulgrew delivers a tough, intense performance. She commands the stage whenever she’s on it. A second standout is Bell, whose emotional back story has its own murky depths.

The Beacon navigates troubled waters. It’s never smooth sailing, but it’s worth the journey.