Australian powerhouse André de Vanny does tour-de-force work as a mentally and emotionally disabled young Irishman in Connor McDermottroe’s one-man play Swansong, a star turn almost as exhausting for de Vanny to perform as the Australian Theatre Company/Skylight Theatre Company West Coast premiere is to experience.

It’s clear from the get-go that all’s not quite right up there for Austin Byrne, otherwise known as Occi (rhymes with Rocky).

Tossing bits of bread into the Skylight Theatre center aisle (standing in for a local pond), Occi informs us with childlike wonder how swans like his beloved Agnes mate for life.

 If only his mother, who gave birth to him out of wedlock, had been so lucky. If only his illegitimacy weren’t such an absolute no-no in mid-1960s Catholic Ireland. If only his classmates hadn’t branded him with “that word.” If only he hadn’t accepted a dare to roll down a hill in a barrel and suffered brain damage along the way.

 If only he hadn’t been sent to a mental institution for his violent, uncontrollable bursts of anger. If only the depressive woman he met during his confinement weren’t already emotionally entangled. If only he could control a temper that flares at the slightest provocation and never more so than on a trawler one dark and life-altering night.

 Under Greg Carroll’s incisive direction, de Vanny gives a performance that is every shade of the emotional rainbow with scarcely a moment of respite for either actor or audience, plumbing the depths of a despair only occasionally lightened by moments of sweetness, his frequent anger flare-ups and the mental disability that prevents him from dealing with his uncontrollable rage making Swansong a challenge to sit through.

Sharing star billing with de Vanny is the brilliant Jared A. Sayeg, whose constantly morphing lighting design enhances the gifted young actor’s performance every step of the way.

 Aussie de Vanny’s Irish brogue, though often tricky for American ears to decipher, seems spot on.

Swansong is produced by Tony Abatemarco, Jackie Diamond, Gary Grossman, Nick Hardcastle, Nate Jones, and Joshua Thorburn. Christopher Hoffman is production stage manager.

Connor McDermottroe’s Swansong bears seeing if only to witness the extraordinary André de Vanny in action, but boy is it a tough one to watch.

Skylight Theatre, 1816 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
www.skylighttheatrecompany.com
www.australiantheatrecompany.org

–Steven Stanley
September 14, 2018
Photos: Yure Kovich

Tags: Australian Theatre Company, Connor McDermottroe, Los Angeles Theater Review, Skylight Theatre Company