INTERVIEW: Sean Bell follows ‘The Beacon’ in new Irish Rep play
Photo: Sean Bell and Kate Mulgrew star in The Beacon at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Photo courtesy of Carol Rosegg / Provided by official website.
Sean Bell, the accomplished theater actor, remembers reading about the new play The Beacon and its upcoming off-Broadway premiere at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. He saw a blurb about the character of Donal and thought there was something he could unearth about the man. A quick phone call to his manager, and Bell was in consideration for the part.
“This character sounds a lot like something I would do well,” Bell said in a recent phone interview. “And [my manager] happened to know the casting director very well, and she reached out. I was actually up in Massachusetts doing a show at the time, so I did a tape. And then I had to drive down for an in-person audition, and that was the whole deal with the audition process, which was lovely and smooth.”
Bell, who recently made his Broadway debut in Harmony: A New Musical, found that Nancy Harris had written a gripping play about a family coming undone due to past secrets. The show, directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull, continues at the Irish Rep through Sunday, Nov. 24. Starring in the production is Kate Mulgrew, known for many stage, TV and film roles, including her iconic turn as Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager.
“Nancy is such a sharp writer,” Bell said of the playwright. “I love the characters she’s written. They’re so nuanced and complicated, and she’s taken them and written a very nuanced, complicated story about family dynamics. And I think it’s so beautifully written and crafted. It’s funny. It’s whip smart. I think the story is so fantastic. It’s so relevant to everybody’s lives. It’s a complicated relationship between mother and son, and I think it examines it really beautifully.”
The story follows the character of Biev (Mulgrew), who is still dealing with the aftermath of a tragic accident that took the life of her husband. Following the death, she’s the subject of flying accusations in the small community where she has moved on the coast of West Cork, Ireland. Will she outrun her past, or will it catch her?
“I took an Irish Literature course actually in college,” Bell said about his love of the Irish dramatic arts. “I love it. I am part Irish. I have been to Ireland, and the artistic culture is just so incredible. But I’ver never — not that I can remember — had the pleasure of doing an Irish play to this point, so it’s been wonderful, especially at the Rep. It’s such a great group of people. It’s a contemporary piece, and that’s something that you don’t see as much in the States these days, Irish contemporary plays.”
Bell added: “That’s been one of the joys of working at the Rep. You’re surrounded by people who are Irish. … Kate Mulgrew, who plays Biev, she’s so wonderful. She’s not from Ireland, but she lived there for years. Obviously, Nancy Harris was a great resource to us as well. It’s been interesting because the American sensibility is so different from the Irish sensibility, and that was one of the big challenges of this play, trying to navigate how Americans are a bit more earnest than the Irish and navigating the dialogue and the family dynamics in a very Irish way. I hope we have come to it authentically.”
It has been an extra thrill performing with Mulgrew. Bell didn’t hold back in expressing his love for Star Trek and Mulgrew’s particular captain role.
“Voyager was my Star Trek show when I was growing up,” he said with a laugh. “I watched that with my dad, so she was my captain. … I had read the play, and I was thinking to myself, who are they going to get to do this? It’s such a tough role, and you’ve got to get someone who is a real force. And that’s exactly who they found. They say don’t meet your heroes, but she is wonderful. I can’t say enough about her. She is so smart and incisive, and she’s funny. And from day one, she has been brilliant in this role, throughout the entire rehearsal process. I’ve learned so much just from watching her and talking with her. She’s fabulous.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Beacon, featuring Sean Bell, continues through Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
