Bold Girls by Rona Munro, now at the 29th St. Rep, is deceiving. Basically it is a "kitchen sink" drama set in Belfast, Ireland, in 1990, with four women whose men are either dead or in jail (we never find out what they did, but insurrection is implied). While the talk and concerns of these working-class women are quite ordinary, an explosion and shots in the background give the atmosphere some tension. "The Troubles" are rumbling nearby and might spill onto the stage (they don't).
Director Ludovica Villar-Hauser keeps as much dramatic tension going as she can in what is basically a domestic drama with family feuds, rivalries, betrayal, jealousies -- even a strange, ghostly figure -- enough to fill a soap opera. The entire cast is excellent, especially Paula Ewin, the set by Mark Symcrak (which evokes a Clifford-Odets reminiscence), costumes by Christopher Lione and lighting by Douglas Cox are just right. While Bold Girls engages with its theatrics, the basic message of the play seems to be: "Men are NO DAMN GOOD!" I always knew that. But after spending last summer living in Derry, Ireland, where "Bloody Sunday" took place, I wanted more of the guts, the roots of what went on there in a play about Ireland at that time.
