The Iconoclasts: Irish They'd Stick to the Drama

The Iconoclasts @ C Primo

Deer Hunter Theatre’s The Iconoclasts was not what I expected. Labeled as Musical Theatre and Opera (cabaret, theatre) I thought I was walking into a classic cabaret night; that’s not what The Iconoclasts is at all. The Iconoclasts starts that way and ends up as a dark family drama about death and desertion.

The proud Irish Iconoclast family's coming together for a tribute to commemorate their late sister's memory. She passed away from a rare disease and none of the family members are grieving properly for her death. So the idea for a reunion of the entire family to revive the Iconoclast's name is conceived. The show starts off strong with the house band lead by Thomas Parrish jamming and Will Taylor’s quirky and humorous parody song set to Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” called “Man, I Feel Like a Brexit.” Then the wheels start to fall off as the narrative overtakes the quality of the cabaret performance. A half baked Irish ditty and rudimentary magic are performed before mucking into the dark stuff. However, a beautiful acapella tribute to their sister makes way for the long awaited performance of the family’s father who abandon ship many years ago. Here’s where we go into full drama mode with comments on sexuality and stance on abortion as a Catholic. The story is compelling, but short lived.

There is some strong acting in the company. However, I think the cabaret aspects of the show do them a disservice. I would have much preferred a more robust emphasis on the family drama; I wanted to know more about the dynamics between these characters (most notably the two brothers), but this is set aside to make room for proving this lot was a “cabaret” family.

I feel, in parts, I was missing a piece to the puzzle between characters or it was buried too deep in the narrative to be clear. For example, Taylor's throw away line at the top of the show about his wife's miscarriage. I almost missed the reveal at the end, but reminded myself, "oh yeah he mentioned that at the beginning." Admittedly, as an American, I may have lost some of the context for this show, as it deals heavily with an Irish family on the cusp of Brexit. I don’t have much knowledge about the Irish/British dissonance when it comes to politics, so this may have contributed to my under appreciation for some of the show’s underlying themes. But for the performative aspects of the show, they need a little more polish to make this show shine.