Keegan's 'Last' Puts Blarney First

Be prepared to do a bit of sleuthing in "Last Days of the Killone Players," a new play by Eric Lucas that obscures its own plot while declaring a deep feeling for the confused soul of modern Ireland.

The prologue primes you for satire, as Tom Hagan, head of a local theatrical troupe -- the Killone Players -- offers comical advice about acting. "Constant movement and large gestures," declares Hagan, played by a cocksure Gerald R. Browning.

But don't expect "Waiting for Guffman." At the end of the monologue, Hagan sits down with a straight-faced detective who starts asking hard questions about who torched the local theater. This detective drama quickly gives way to domestic drama in the Hagan household, which then yields to maudlin monologues filled with lovely phrases but uncertain themes.

Moment to moment, the production -- part of Keegan Theatre's New Island Project -- holds the stage, thanks in part to Lucas's actor-friendly way with character and language ("Jobs bein' gobbled up by blow-ins," rants someone of the immigrant situation). As Sean Brohan, a local lovelorn farmer, John Brennan delivers a vivid speech about a lass he eyed in London, and Lucas -- an actor himself -- writes the story as a shapely, haunting chorus. Indeed, there will be a refrain of this in the second act.

Likewise, the subtle interplay between Brennan's Sean and Kerri Rambow's Winn Hagan (wife of Tom) registers in the nicely understated glances and pauses that pass between the actors during standard Irish banter. And then, ahem, the Hagans' long-lost son Michael comes home, looking like a million bucks and setting up a reckoning that's freighted with the fate of modern Ireland.

In a nutshell, Tom is Tradition, and Michael (Kevin O'Reilly) is Celtic Tiger, the recent economic engine that's raised the fortunes of the long-suffering country. Who burned what, and why -- and even who's really who -- gets sorted out, sort of, in a second act that makes you think there might be a genius indie film lurking among all these loosely woven themes.

As it is, director Leslie A. Kobylinski hasn't really helped Lucas find a coherent pattern in his script. The slender production at the unembellished little Theatre on the Run is a blank slate -- just a table and chairs, with three amateurish panels at the back (pastoral green fields and lavender sky).

So it's all about the acting, and sure, it's easy to admire Rambow's passion as Winn, which is first muted and then unleashed. And there's something compelling about Bruce Alan Rauscher's sad-eyed reveries as the mournful Detective McDonagh. But the story is elusive, lurching between pat dramatic encounters (Old Ireland! Crass new development! Missed romance!) and woozy speeches. It's missing the narrative click that would snap these appealing but disjointed figures into focus.

Last Days of the Killone Players, by Eric Lucas. Directed by Leslie A. Kobylinski. Set design, Kerry Lucas; lighting design, Dan Martin; costumes, Grant Kevin Lane. With Jon Reynolds. About an hour and 45 minutes. Through April 5 at Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington. Call 703-892-0202 or visit http://www.keegantheatre.com.