"Who's Dead McCarthy" ★ ★ ★ ★

Kevin Barry stories always have humor and depth. In Word For Word's production of "Who's Dead McCarthy" we get an innovative production, perfect direction and a first-rate cast to pull it off -- you can't ask much more from a night of theater. The stories are more polished now than they were when we first saw an unstaged reading last spring. In addition to "McCarthy" and "The Wintersongs," which we saw then, we also get "The Coast of Leitrim," which occupies the evening's entire first act. In all three, an individual member of the ensemble stands out.

Ryan Tasker (above left) is Seamus Ferris in "Leitrim," a young man with little ambition and less self-confidence, who meets his true love working behind the counter in a coffee bar. Her name is Katherine. She is Polish and "knows her way around a head of cabbage," but he is Irish, expecting doom at every turn. The distance between them seems impossibly great. But have faith. Ryan Tasker was born to play Seamus. I promise you will love the ending.

Speaking of which: If anyone ever asks you how to write the last line to a story, refer them to Kevin Barry.

Stephanie Hunt is a magnificent old lady on a train in "Wintersongs." As loony as her dialogue is ("I lost a kidney in 1988"), her facial expressions are even better. Ailbhe Doherty plays Sarah, the young girl unfortunate enough to be stuck in the seat next to the old lady, but not wishing to be rude by moving. There is a twist. Things are not exactly what they seem. 

And in the title piece, John Flanagan's smile and body language warm us to the inner workings of the village doomsayer: Con McCarthy, the man who knows everyone in the village who has died and exactly how it happened. His need to tell everyone else about it has them crossing the street when they see him coming.  Flanagan (below, left), Hunt and Tasker could easily win awards for their roles in these laugh-out-loud and heart-warming stories. 

RATINGS:★★★★ 

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants "Who's Dead McCarthy" Four Stars. Each actor in the ensemble deserves special recognition. We understand them, we root for them, we love them. Best of all, we get to leave the theater smiling about Seamus and Katherine and the weird way the world works. 

"Who's Dead McCarthy"

Z Space-Below Theater

450 Florida Street

Through July 21, 2024

$40-$65