THE SEAFARER

Cards Manipulation Consultant

Written by Conor McPherson

Directed by Ryan Rilette

Round House Theater, 2023

It’s a stormy Christmas Eve on the Irish coast, and down-on-his-luck Sharky has returned home to look after his cantankerous brother Richard, who has recently gone blind. When Richard’s old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky show up to play a game of poker with an enigmatic stranger, Sharky is forced to confront his past and fight for his future. Written by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson (Girl from the North Country, The Night Alive), this “enthralling” (The New York Times) dark comedy celebrates camaraderie and the hope provided by second chances.

Ryan worked as the Cards Consultant for this production. Friends and family sit down to play cards with the devil. The script called for specific characters to have specific cards in their hands for each round of the poker game. Ryan developed an original stack-order of the deck to accomplish this. Not only did it heighten the verisimilitude when the cards were casual shown to the audience, but it allowed the actors to develop a real truth to the scene. Ryan also taught the actors false shuffles and card control techniques used by professional gamblers to give the illusion the deck was mixed after each round was played before the next hands were dealt. The surprise climax was beating the devil with a four of a kind-all aces!

Reviews:

“Their world is brought to life by Andrew R. Cohen whose shabby set hints at lost respectability and order. Sound designer Kenny Neal suggests a stormy night while Max Doolittle’s lighting ushers in a sunny Christmas morning. Cards consultant Ryan Phillips keeps the poker game real.”-Washington Blade

“You can often count on an otherworldly twist in the work of Irish dramatist Conor McPherson. A marvelous cast and terrific designers give rich texture to the characters’ seedy world: Bickering. Frustrated mutterings over card hands. A snowballing pile of beer cans. Hilarious and suspenseful by turns, these touches pull us into an engrossing world of disorder and mystical potential.”- Washington Post

“This cast is at its best in the second act, dominated by the poker game. They rage, bluster, and gloat through several hands. For all their bluff, however, three of them never realize that the other two are playing not as a Christmas Eve diversion but for eternal stakes.”- DC Theater Arts