To Kill a King

In 1939, as Nazi Germany prepares to launch the dogs of war across Europe and beyond, Irish militants gather in Corktown, Philadelphia’s large Irish-American enclave, to hatch a plot to drive the British out of Ireland and make the Emerald Isle an independent republic.

Based on actual events, including some historical characters, “Corktown ‘39” imagines a scheme organized by the Irish Republican Army to assassinate Great Britain's King George during his upcoming visit with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the nation’s capital.

Meeting in the well-appointed parlor of Mike Keating, an actual person played by Ron Bottitta, who’s a well-heeled operative in Clan na Gael, the Irish-American organization that had done so much to finance the IRA’s Easter Rising in 1916 and Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921 and was still a powerful fund-raising force.

Helped by his fanatical daughter, Kate (Ann Noble), teenage son, Frank (Tommy McCabe), and Kate’s former beau, Tim Flynn (Thomas Vincent Kelly), Keating hosts a visit from Seán Russell (JD Cullum), the IRA’s Chief of Staff, during which they brief Martin Connor (Jeff Lorch), the sniper they’ve recruited for the job fresh from the Spanish Civil War, on his paid-for assignment.

Bringing great gravity to the proceedings is the late-arriving Joe Garrity (Peter Van Norden), the long-time actual head of Clan na Gael, who questions whether the planned assassination would work to rid Ireland of British rule, especially if it might involve partnering with Germany’s Nazis, or might steel British nerves and alienate American supporters.

Ann Noble (top) • Peter Van Norden (bottom) •

John Fazakerley’s thrilling play turns on issues of morality and strategy around what the plotters might do, leavened by a sizzling romance between Kate and Martin, the sniper, which you could see coming the moment they found themselves on the stage together.

Written by John Fazakerley, directed by Steven Robman, produced by John P. Flynn and Athena Saxon, “Corktown 39” is an extraordinarily well-acted, well-written, and well-produced performance. Don’t miss it.

Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Through May 25. Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00. Sundays at 3:00.