(Alexis Soloski’s article appeared in The New York Times, 1/26; via Pam Green.)
If you have to be haunted, you really couldn’t ask for a nicer sort of ghost. The specter at the heart of Hugh Leonard’s semi-autobiographical play “Da,” revived by the Irish Repertory Theater, pours piping cups of tea and proffers packs of cigarettes. Most of the time he lounges in
This friendly ghoul is the Da of the title, of course, a retired gardener, jovial and unambitious. Just because he’s been laid to rest doesn’t mean he has any intention of leaving alone his adopted son, Charlie (an adept Ciaran O’Reilly, who has played the role in an earlier revival). Charlie, a successful writer, can hardly wait to zip back to civilized London. But as he sorts through his father’s papers and photographs and unused razors, he’s bothered by a fright of ghosts — not only his adoptive da (Paul O’Brien), but also his adoptive mother (Fiana Toibin), his former boss (Sean Gormley), his younger self (Adam Petherbridge) — crowding around the kitchen table.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/theater/da-hugh-leonards-1978-tony-winner-via-irish-rep.html