Unraveling the Mystery of The Beacon
By: Andi Grene
The Beacon, written by Nancy Harris and starring Kate Mulgrew, is an amalgamation of stories: it is a story of estrangement, a story of ghosts, a story of secrets. At its core, however, it is the story of a mother and son, and an exploration of the insufficiencies of their love for one another.
Mulgrew plays BEIV, a renowned artist who’s abandoned her suburban Dublin home for a secluded cottage on an island off the coast of West Cork, Ireland. Her son, COLM, comes to visit with his new wife, in search of answers regarding the mysterious death of his father.
Harris and Mulgrew discuss the discernment of a theatre audience, the timelessness of modern Ireland, and the moral implications of deception – among other things – in this exclusive interview with Irish Rep.
How is this production of The Beacon different from its premiere at the Gate Theatre? Has any part of the production at Irish Rep surprised you?
Nancy: Irish Rep’s production is very different from the Gate’s. At the Gate, the painting took a very dominant role in the set, but at Irish Rep, the sea takes its place. It functions essentially as an extra character. In Ireland, one is aware of the sea already, so in New York, this emphasis is particularly important. The sea is part of BEIV’s unconscious, part of COLM’s shadowed side.
What do you think is different about storytelling when done on stage versus screen? How does your approach to acting vary, depending on the medium?
Kate: I’ve been acting for 50 years. My great love, in the beginning, was unquestionably theatre. As time has gone on, I’ve done more TV acting, which is arguably easier to do than stage acting. You never know what’s going to happen, from the guy in the front row falling asleep, to the woman in the back who’s in tears, to your scene partner trying a completely new take on a line. There’s no safety net in the theatre. I love that feeling – it forces you to face yourself. And if you back away from authenticity on the stage, you can get in real trouble. Audiences are quite discerning. They’re there to see a story well and truly told, and my job is to present the truth.
Are there methods/practices you employ to get into the mind of a given character? What are they, and how do they help?
Nancy: The act of writing is the act of inhabiting a character. I don’t start to write until a character is in me, in a real way. I had been thinking about The Beacon for four years before I started writing it. I let the story marinate for as long as I could. And then, one day, I just had to get something down. I wrote it quicker than I’ve written anything else – I got it done in about two months.
Kate: To get in the mind of a character, I stay in the book as much as possible. I’m always with the script, wherever I am. I apply myself to it several times a day, read through it at least once. I think that’s where I get the real pleasure: working the script out, almost surgically. And in this case, the words of the script are pretty superb. There’s a pulse to the Irish vernacular that other languages don’t have: it’s rhythmic, musical, tough, gritty, witty. If you miss that music, you could really miss the meaning of an entire scene.
Do you feel your understanding of BEIV is still evolving? Has Kate contributed to this evolution at all?
Nancy: I think a role evolves with every production. Kate’s evolved the role because she’s brought her own interpretation to it. Kate is very courageous as an actor. She’s not afraid to go to dark places; she doesn’t have an interest in being likable or pleasing. In that way, she’s opened BEIV up for me. One of the things she’s illuminated for me is her relationship with her ex-husband: she loved him deeply as a friend, even though she couldn’t stay married to him. Kate brings the past onto the stage in a living, breathing way. She’s extraordinary.
Your knowledge of Irish culture and custom has obviously informed the way you play BEIV. Has anything about The Beacon informed or altered the way you think of the Irish people?
Kate: The Beacon hasn’t altered my perception of Ireland, but it’s deepened it. The Irish people are a very complex, rich, sometimes mysterious, race of people. I’m Irish American – my parents and grandparents are all Irish. There was an Irish sensibility alive in my household growing up, and we often visited Ireland together. Ireland was alive in our family’s humor, the banter, the teasing, the sorrow, the craic. Ireland speaks to me on very primitive and important levels – it speaks to my significance in the world.
We talk a lot about contemporary Irish theatre in reference to the creation of The Beacon – what does a “contemporary Ireland” look like to you? How is that reflected in this script?
Nancy: Contemporary Ireland is full of sexual politics; there’s fall out from the economic crash and the housing crisis. It’s a very young, forward thinking country, with a rich and deep history that informs everything. The world has gotten smaller, in a lot of ways – there’s not such a huge gulf between contemporary Dublin and contemporary New York City. The islands, however, are still very different. The people are wilder, more sexually experienced. City folk can be quite arrogant; island folk are untamed.
Kate: BEIV reflects a contemporary Ireland in her misanthropic, tough independence. As for Ireland, itself, I’m not sure much changes, in a cultural sense. I’m not sure that it should. I can still find myself, today, sitting at a pub with a 9 year old and an 80 year old on either side of me.
You strike a delicate balance between murder mystery and family reunion – drama and comedy – throughout this play. Is there a method by which you decide which tone takes precedence, when?
Nancy: I’m irreverent when it comes to genre – I don’t believe in it. Audiences are smart, and they like to be told a story. This story is one of a mother and son with a very deep, fractured relationship; the mystery of the play is what follows. Those of us who grow up in “ordinary” families don’t often question themselves, but COLM has always sensed that some part of him is missing. The mystery of the story, then, lies in COLM trying to recover himself. BEIV, on the other hand, is the opposite of a mystery to herself – she knows exactly who she is. In The Beacon, we see the collision of one person who knows herself exactly with another person who’s missing a piece of themself.
Is there a place for secrecy in a family, or do you think every mystery should be solved?
Kate: I think secrets are very dangerous. Families that live in a culture of secrecy are not necessarily loving. But that’s not what’s happening here – lying in The Beacon is strictly unavoidable, and the price for telling the truth is inestimable. This play explores the things love needs to conceal before it reveals the truth. This is a Greek tragedy we’re looking at.
Nancy: I think we’re all mysteries to ourselves. The scary thing about getting older is realizing how little you know about everything, including yourself. But the greatest mystery of life, of course, is death. As we live, we try to reconcile the mysteries of ourselves, but also, we must live with this huge, unsolvable mystery hanging over our heads. This has to be reflected in drama: if you solve every question, you’re being untrue to the human experience. Not all questions in a show can be answered. I want the audience to go home with their own version of the story.
The Beacon has been extended on Irish Rep’s Mainstage through November 24, 2024. Get your tickets today.