Jared H. Graham (Young Dave), Emily Erickson (Lisa), Mallorie Stern (Kirsty), Jordan Essex (Bobby), and Jonathan Holmes (Dave). Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.
The Solas Nua production of Leo McGann’s “The Honey Trap” is one of the best plays of the 2023-2024 DMV season. It is just November and there are many more productions to come, but this world premiere is that good.
…one of the best plays of the 2023-2024 DMV season…should not be missed…a gripping thriller that should not be forgotten.
McGann’s play is the story of two British soldiers, Dave and Bobby, who go out for a drink one night in Belfast. When they meet two good looking girls, the night evolves, but not in the way they expected. Decades later, when Dave is re-telling that night to the American, Emily, for an oral history project, trauma which has never fully gone away is re-opened.
This production, helmed by the experienced Director Matt Torney, evolves through a series of flashbacks. It is the story of how the Irish Republican Army (IRA) targeted the British military to end control of the country. It is also about Boston College’s Belfast Project, an early 2000s effort by the American university which captured over 100 stories from different combatants. These controversial histories, made public earlier than planned, re-opened wounds of the past causing international conflict.
Torney brings out a range of emotions in his talented “Honey Trap” cast, who capture the full breadth of McGann’s script. It is haunting, moving, and at times hilarious. As Old Dave, Jonathan Holmes is being interviewed by the Emily (Rebecca Ballinger), yet the former soldier is clearly in control. He is creepy when he steers the conversation to Emily’s personal life. He is sad, clearly still affected by his past. He makes you laugh at different moments. Ballinger’s Emily, a fictional character from Wellesley, MA, shows how the innocence and good intentions of an outsider can go terribly wrong.
Other pairings also work well on stage. As young Dave and Bobby, Jared H. Graham and Jordan Essex are in the opening moments in the show and remain at its emotional core throughout. Dave is a character who is both charming with the ladies and commanding with his subordinate Bobby. Graham is tremendously effective in crafting a balance between anger, pride, and sadness. Emily Erickson and Mallorie Stern, dressed with alluring style by Costume Designer Heather Lockard, have a natural repartee as the female liaisons, Lisa and Kirsty of the IRA. In the story’s dramatic conclusion, Holmes interacts with Lise Bruneau’s Sonia with an alarming normalcy—the veteran female actress showcasing her preternatural ability to bring out the multiple dimensions of Sonia.
The creative team is equally strong. Lighting Designer Alberto Segarra pulls the audience in from the onset. As the play opens, six pairs of flood lights surround the diamond-shaped stage, dramatically focusing the attention on Ballinger and Holmes. The smaller Lab Theater II vibrates with intensity amidst the pitter-patter of dialogue and Jimmy Garver’s sound design. Emotionally, the Belfast-born Torney pulls the audience back into the Ireland of 1969—the characters drink Guinness and bell-bottoms abound on stage. Yet the brilliance of this play is as throughout, we are jolted back to the present, because we often cannot let go of the trauma of the past today.
This play, which was recognized by the Kennedy Center with its Harold and Mimi Steinberg National Student Playwrighting Award for the outstanding student-written play in a college or university, should not be missed. In addition to the cast and crew, a credit should go to the Solas Nua team for developing the work of this immensely talented young playwright. It tells the story of how cycles of violence often do not end. This production, in the tight confines of Atlas’s Lab Theater II, it is a gripping thriller that should not be forgotten.
Running Time: Two hours with one Intermission.
Advisory: Ages 18+.
“The Honey Trap, runs through November 19, 2023 presented by Solas Nua at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. For more information and to purchase tickets ($45 for general admission, $10 for students, and Pay-What-You-Can each Thursday evening), go online or call the Box Office at (202) 399-7993 or email [email protected], Monday through Friday, 11 am–5 pm or two hours prior to a performance.
