The Washington Post - 30.08.2019

17

PG

THE WASHINGTON POST

.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019

On Stage

BY GEOFFREY HIMES

Actor Rex Daugherty describes Tim Finnegan
as the hardest role he has ever had to learn. Not
only does he have to master the 9,000 words in
constant but irregular rhyme, but he has to
deliver them while mixing cocktails and serving
the drinks to the audience.
“The Smuggler” premiered at the 1st Irish
Festival of New York in January and won Ronan
Noone the festival’s Best Playwright award.
Daugherty w as on hand to witness the debut and
immediately wanted to produce the show for
Solas Nua, the Washington collective that de-
scribes itself as “the only organization in the
United States exclusively dedicated to contem-
porary Irish arts.” Daugherty is artistic director
for the group’s theatrical arm, and this new,
one-person show by a
Galway native, which
begins performances
Sept. 8, fit his needs
perfectly.
It also satisfied a
desire to present a
show in Daugherty’s
favorite bar, Allegory
in the Eaton Hotel.
The actor likes the
pub not only for its
social justice aspects (murals of integration
pioneer Ruby Bridges adorn the room) but also
for its old-fashioned cocktails. Finnegan is a
bartender telling a barroom tale of robbery,
betrayal and human trafficking, so it made sense
for Daugherty to perform the role while serving
drinks from behind the bar at the Allegory.
“Small theater companies across D.C. are
struggling for space,” he points out. Last year,
Solas Nua commissioned playwrights Deirdre
Kinahan and Psalmayene 24 to co-write “The
Frederick Douglass Project,” which was present-
ed on a floating pier on the Anacostia River. This
year Solas Nua (Gaelic for new light) is present-
SEE SMUGGLER ON 19

A play’s

creative

venue sets

the bar

With a barrage of rhyme and a

squeeze of lime, ‘The Smuggler’

makes you think and lets you drink

DJ COREY PHOTOGRAPHY

If you go

THE SMUGGLER
Allegory at the Eaton
Hotel, 1201 K St. NW.
76 5-276-8201.
solasnua.org.

Dates: Sept. 8-Oct. 6

Prices: $ 40

Rex Daugherty will deliver the 9 ,000-word,
rhyming script of “The Smuggler” while
serving drinks to an audience of 30 at the
Allegory bar in the Eaton Hotel.