From Boston’s Tír Na Theatre Company comes Jimmy Titanic, performed by its Artistic Director Colin Hamell. The setting is Heaven in 2012, long after the Titanic has sunk. Jimmy is one of the Irish lads who worked on building the ship in Belfast and, unfortunately, was on that doomed first voyage. Why the last name Titanic you ask? Well, apparently in heaven there’s a great deal of celebrity associated with famous disaster deaths. So adopting the name Titanic affords you the chance to dance with an 800 year old bubonic plaque victim. I kid you not.
Written by Bernard McMullan, Jimmy Titanic is a play with characters ranging from the bowels of the ship to the first class deck. We travel from the offices of the New York Times to the Mayor of Belfast, then brief encounters with heaven. God, Peter and an effete Gabriel all make appearances. For the record, God is sort of a chain smoking godfather type and a bit crusty. One man plays all of these characters jumping from Jimmy and his bestie to Mr. Astor, throwing in assorted Titanic facts along the way. The tone frequently and abruptly changes from silly to serious so that the play is never grounded in anything other than an acting exercise. And, therefore, Jimmy Titanic hits the proverbial iceberg.