Tensions reach a breaking point when an Irish-American family finds itself knee-deep in an assassination plot in John Fazakerley’s slow-boiling thriller Corktown ‘39, another sensational Rogue Machine Theatre Company World Premiere.

The year is 1939. The place is the Philadelphia neighborhood known locally as Corktown. And though 3000 miles separate the Irish-American Keatings from their homeland, they could not be more deeply enmeshed in affairs across the Atlantic, namely the ongoing fight waged by the Irish Revolutionary Army and its American branch Clan na Gael to free Ireland from British rule and make the Emerald Isle an independent republic.

60something immigrant Mike Keating (Ron Bottitta) is second only to political activist Joseph McGarrity in running Clan na Gael and his pretty, plucky daughter Kate (Ann Noble) is herself in charge of fund-raising for the revolutionary organization.

Indeed, only Frank (Tommy McCabe), Mike’s American-born youngest, has managed to stay out of political intrigue in his ancestral land, though his plan to enlist in the U.S. Navy seems unlikely to keep him out of harm’s way given Hitler’s rise to power across the Atlantic.

Completing the dramatis personae are Kate’s just-dumped ex Tim Flynn (Thomas Vincent Kelly), who supports Irish independence but can’t go along with bombing civilian targets in England; irascible Irish Republican Army Chief-of-Staff; Sean Russell (JD Cullum); Clan na Gael president Joseph McGarrity (Peter Van Norden), a veteran of both the Anglo-Irish War and the Irish Civil War; and most significantly anti-fascist Spanish Civil War vet Martin Conner (Jeff Lorch), who’s just the man to execute both Sean Russell’s orders and the King Of England.

Fazakerley’s Corktown ’39 may take place nearly nine decades in the past, but the parallels the playwright draws between Europe in the late 1930s and current events both at home and abroad are inescapable, just one reason this prequel to his previously penned Corktown ’57 packs such a powerful punch.

And though I knew of the part played by the IRA in “The Troubles,” I hadn’t heard of its earlier role in fighting for Irish independence, nor had I heard of Clan na Gael, which is why I award Corktown ’39 bonus points for educational value.

First and foremost, however, this is a crackling good play that slowly, deliberately builds to a shocker and a stunner of a dramatic climax and gives L.A. audiences the chance to see some of our city’s finest stage stars impeccably directed by Steven Robman.

Noble gives Kate a potent mix of sexuality and smarts, and her climactic breakdown is a stunner.

Cullum is on fire as Sean Russell, and never more so than when he gives a rally speech that only Adolph Hitler could match in crowd-stirring intensity.

Lorch’s Martin is dynamic and charismatic as all get-out, Bottitta is so convincing good-natured as Mike that his end-of-play transformation is all the more unexpected, Van Norden’s Joe is a leonine force whose fire has not been diminished by age, Kelly is terrific as a man who may be too principled and good-natured to hold a woman like Kate; and newcomer McCabe adds some all-American spunk (and nifty jitterbugging) to Tommy.

Indeed, the only nit I have to pick with Corktown ’39 is the decision to forgo the script’s two-act format. Not that its 110-minute running time is excessive, but this is a play that has so much to say, I’d love to have had the chance to digest and discuss before returning for Act Two.

I certainly can’t quibble about Mark Mendelson’s plush, spacious, gorgeously appointed late-Victorian parlor nor the way it has been strikingly lit by Dan Weingarten.

Kate Bergh’s costumes are late 1930s perfection and Megan Trapani’s props are period-perfect as well. (Even the telephone cord is vintage.) Sound designer Christopher Moscatiello peppers the production with music and radio broadcasts that evoke the era and one shocking bang. And Ned Mochel once again proves his worth as fight choreographer extraordinaire.

Corktown ‘39 is produced by John Perrin Flynn and Athena Rowene Saxon. Lauren Lovett is dialect coach. Celina Surniak is intimacy coach. Grant Gerrard is technical director. Rich Wong is stage manager. Casting is by Victoria Hoffman. Judith Borne is publicist.

 Whether you’re a history buff or just simply love quality theater, Corktown ’39 is a must-see. If ever there was a power-punching political thriller and family drama to boot, this is it.

Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Through May 25. Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00. Sundays at 3:00.
www.roguemachinetheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
April 19, 2025
Photos: Jacques Lorch

Tags: John Fazakerley, Los Angeles Theater Review, Matrix Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre