Someone Who’ll Watch over Me

By Jeffrey Yan

Two hours plus of watching three men, locked up, in torture and despair; I thought I’d be in for a play that is equal parts dark and heavy. Maybe because of where the play is set – a barebones cell in Beirut – I thought perhaps it’d be a social or political commentary of some sort. My interest in politics being very mild to say the least, I was wondering if I would have to stifle a yawn or two if Frank McGuiness’ Someone Who’ll Watch over Me turns out to be some depressing prison drama.

It turns out that the combination of an amazing script, three phenomenal actors and a stark, simple set was so potent it resulted in an experience that touched on every emotional nerve. This was a play that made you laugh, made you cry, made you feel and made you think, often all at the same time.

An American man, an Englishman and an Irishman were held captive in Beirut, entirely cut off from the outside world with no means of knowing what’s going on around them, and living in squalid conditions. Throughout the play, we see them trying to cope with this terrible situation and at the same time, see the relationship they share grow, and sometimes flounder.

Being very different individuals, they all have their differences and naturally sometimes they rub each other the wrong way. Over time, they manage to meld into this strange, but somehow functional family unit, all of them depending on each other to get through. In that dark cell, they try to hold it together as best as possible but at times, despair just overwhelms. These are the moments where you see just how indispensable each of them has become to the others, like crutches to get them through.

The subject material is indeed, heavy and depressing, but thanks to the deft writing, nothing feels like it’s been forced on you. The interactions feel real in the way three men would normally interact; the lines come at the right

moments. They are just three men trying to get by in a horrible situation, doing what they can to help each other take their minds off the situation at hand, therefore resulting in some very silly, funny moments. But always, when they have managed to find the humor in something, they would all remember where exactly they are and the darkness would come back twice as unbearable.

Towards the end, the story got even more emotional and there were more than a few loud sniffles in the dark, quiet theater. The set, being minimal, was a good accompaniment to the dramatic story and served to put the focus on the actors’ talents. And talking about talents, Gavin Yap was so convincing as an American – he fortunately looked the part – you hardly remember that he is local.

Charles Donnelly and Kingsley Judd were also equally effective in their portrayals as a vulnerable Englishman and a loud and brash Irishman, respectively. The former is a soft-spoken, sensitive older man who misses his mother and the latter who often picks on the former, gets on the others’ nerves but whose vulgar, in-your-face sense of humor, you soon realize, is just his means of keeping sane.

Director Joe Hasham said that he has wanted to direct this play since 1994 but for some reasons or other – insufficient funds being the main culprit – The Actor’s Studio has only been able to stage it now, 16 years later. Let’s hope that the next time something this good comes along, TAS would not let us wait so long to enjoy it.