Jeffrey Sweet–Making the Scene

I first saw English, The Buena Vista Social Club, Eureka Day, Prayer for the French Republic, Dead Outlaw and Liberation at small non-profit venues before they were picked up for critically-praised productions on Broadway. If I were going to place a bet on current off-Broadway offerings that might make the move, I would put my money on Mexodus and The Honey Trap.

I’ve already written about Mexodus, so …

The Honey Trap by Leo McGann, directed by Matt Torney at the Irish Rep. Bobby and Dave, two British soldiers assigned to Ireland in 1979 (during what were referred to as “the Troubles”), are in a pub drinking, unwinding from the stress of dealing with a population that hates them. A couple of attractive young Irish women flirt with them and suggest an interest in going further elsewhere. Dave begs off. Bobby leaves with the women. Bobby ends up dead.

Decades later, Dave is recounting the events of the evening as part of an oral history project to Emily, an American graduate student. She doesn’t imagine that Dave is using her as part of a plot to find the women he suspects led his friend to his death.

The play builds to scenes in which two middle-aged people explore the possibility of a brief encounter that will temporarily assuage loneliness. The thing is, since one of these is Dave, we can sense that the woman is in danger of replicating Bobby’s path. The audience finds itself watching both from a sentimental perspective and a potentially murderous one. The audience may also find itself divided in its feelings. On the one hand, we can sympathize with Dave’s desire for revenge. On the other, of course we don’t relish the idea of witnessing and feeling complicit in a murder.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a suspense play in New York. And the suspense plays I remember – eg, Deathtrap, Sleuth and Wait Until Dark – had little political content to speak of. The Honey Trap, though, manages to serve up chills without trivializing the politics. McGann is dealing with a serious subject here – the costs bourn by “ordinary” people on all sides of a conflict. One can argue that the British presence in Ireland was ultimately insupportable and cruel, but still feel that Bobby’s death by those fighting the British was appalling.

In accomplishing this, The Honey Trap enters the rare company of works that function both as entertainment and as serious commentary. In recent literature, John le Carré was the master. In film, The Third Man comes to mind. At the moment, I can’t think a play that compares to The Honey Trap. I hope somebody is smart enough to pick up this production (and this cast led by Michael Hayden and Samantha Mathis) and remount it uptown.