The Irish ‘Troubles’ stir one man’s journey in FST’s ‘A Night in November’

In Marie Jones’ one-man play “A Night in November,” British actor James Evans plays an average man (and every other character) dealing with the upheaval stemming from the bloody battles between Catholics in the Republic of Ireland and Protestants in Northern Ireland in the 1990s.

The time came to be known as “The Troubles” but Evans and director Kristen Clippard said audiences don’t need to know much about the long history of bloody violence between the two countries.

“That’s what makes the show really interesting,” Evans said over tea during a break from rehearsals. “It’s set in a specific, esoteric context that a lot of people are not familiar with. I wasn’t, to my shame, being from England. It still resonates with a lot of people.”

He said there are clear “comparisons with what’s going on in America and England with tribalism and anger about people with different views. This is not just a story about The Troubles. That’s the backdrop for one man’s journey and he assesses his own reckoning and his own prejudice.”

In the comedic drama, which runs Feb. 21-March 15 as part of Florida Studio Theatre’s Stage III series, that reckoning is awakened during a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“It was a real match that happened very soon after a terrorist attack by Protestant loyalists against Catholics in Northern Ireland,” he said. His character, Kenneth Norman McCallister, a Protestant government clerk working in Belfast, attends the game with his father-in-law and realizes “it’s not a soccer match, it’s a battlefield. He sees this tribalism reflected in the crowd,” Evans said.

The play is “not just a journey of a man reassessing his beliefs,” he said. “He asks the question, ‘What do you do if you have this reckoning surrounded by these people who have come to your enlightenment?’”

Clippard expects the play will lead audience members to look at themselves and their own beliefs and ask themselves “what is true for me? Why do I think the way I do. Maybe the takeaway is I should think about this thing and dig deeper into that, and of course have a fun time.”

Evans plays about 23 characters, from men and women who are featured in several scenes to others who “are maybe a random drunk lady in a sports bar who has one line.”

Evans makes his FST debut with the show, while Clippard returns after directing the opening Stage III show “Ugly Lies the Bone.”

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“Part of the joy of watching the show is watching James quickly moving in and out of different people’s personas and bodies so quickly and with different attitudes,” she said.

The one-person show is a first for both actor and director (though Clippard performed one that she created.) Directing Evans in multiple characters is not much different than working with a stage filled with humans.

“There’s a level of detail he needs in feedback if a transition from this person to that person isn’t clear or is too slow or happens too abruptly,” she said.

Evans said being by himself is something of an unexpected relief. “If I miss a part and skip a big chunk, I can’t screw up another actor’s track.”

‘A Night in November’

By Marie Jones. Directed by Kristin Clippard. Runs Feb. 21-March 15, Florida Studio Theatre Stage III, Bowne’s Lab Theatre, 1265 First St., Sarasota. Tickets are $25-$46. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: One actor plays 23 roles in Irish comedic drama at Sarasota’s FST