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| L to R: Actors Adonis Williams and Levi Jacobs; Director Steve Chivers. (Photo credits below) |
Actor/director Steve Chivers returns to directing for stage with the World Premiere of playwright Martin Casella's 2.0 version of diverse and inclusive characters, adapted from Casella's original story of Irishmen being "less endowed...down there"
Titled "The Irish Curse 2.0" with the tag "The Diverse Curse (Revised Version)" — the comedy stage production of acclaimed playwright Martin Casella's inclusive take on his original version, "The Irish Curse" — had its world premiere on July 12th to a packed audience in the Los Angeles theatre circuit, directed by Steve Chivers.
Casella revised the story in 2020, swapping out two of the Irish characters for African-American and Asian-American characters after receiving messages from two directors urging him to diversify the cast, since men from other ethnicities also deal with how well-endowed they are — or aren’t — and that the story needed to be more inclusive. Since it was revised in 2020, "The Irish Curse 2.0" had not been produced for the stage until now, with Chivers taking the initiative.
In Casella's original story, he spotlights a small group of professionally successful Irish-American men (including a church priest and a gay cop) living in New York City, who meet every Wednesday night in a Catholic church basement — a self-help group for men with small penises. Interestingly, it is the Irish priest who opens the church doors for these men, giving them a safe place to talk about their situation.
In 2.0, the group now includes an African-American man who plays the gay cop, and an Asian-American man — aside from the Irish men — who meet weekly at the Catholic church. The play opens with Rick Baldwin Tanaka (Levi Jacobs), Joseph Flaherty (Kevin Walsh), Stephen Fitzgerald (Adonis Williams), and group moderator and church priest Father Kevin Shaunessy (Stephen Bridgewater), who gather for one of their regular weekly meetings. Only this evening, a new member joins them — a young Irish lad in his 20s, Kieran Riley (Jake Montgomery). The spotlight is obviously on our new Irish entrant to hear his story, but he manages to convince the group to talk about their stories first before he does, as he is new, nervous about vocalizing his issue, and, well, a bit ashamed. There is more than meets the eye, though, with his intentions, as he slowly shakes up their status quo, unearthing and challenging everything the other men think about "the Irish Curse."
Make no mistake, though — the writing is wickedly hilarious, sharp, and irreverent throughout the 90-minute run of the play, yet delicately interlaced with the psychological burden of these men's "shortcomings," which brilliantly transcends through the nuanced and flawed characters.
Making good use of Casella's material, Chivers, who is an actor himself, deftly handles and navigates his cast, extracting some powerful comedic performances from each of the five actors.
Chivers also triumphs in the casting department. All the actors have great chemistry, and their timing — oscillating between the funny and reflective moments — is pitch-perfect. Particular stand-out moments are between Jacobs' Tanaka and Walsh's Flaherty.
The production design and utilization of the space are well-balanced. You immediately connect with the location, recognizing it as part of a church or chapel. At first, the props that line the corners of the walls seem cluttered, but as you look closer, you notice the detailing — this is clearly a used space, shared by other church groups.
For men, there isn’t much material addressing issues about male genitalia, especially size. From comparing the men’s penis sizes to bottle caps and short stubs, to trying all kinds of penis enhancement methods — that ultimately cause them agony, literally and emotionally — it is indeed refreshing to see such writing come to life, tackling not only this topic but also men’s obsession with body image, identity, masculinity, sex, and relationships.
Casella — whose credits include shows such as "Scituate" and "Mates" — chose to highlight a very sensitive topic amongst men through the Irishmen’s “curse” of being lesser endowed, is quite clever. Urban legend has it (and some reports say it could be true) that a good number of Irishmen are burdened with the situation of having small penises. According to a report in Mel Magazine, “The Irish Curse has a few variations, but its most basic incarnation is a small penis paired with comparatively large b**ls. In some cases, the d**k is only small, relative to the size of the b**ls, but it still counts — at its core, the Curse is about disproportion and a higher potato-to-meat ratio.”
The original version of The Irish Curse has been produced in New York Off-Broadway, since it was written nearly two decades ago, and across the world in countries such as England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and — Sri Lanka. Yes, Sri Lanka — with South Asian Sri Lankan actors embodying the Irish characters. In a way, "The Irish Curse" reminds me of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" and how it became a kind of bastion for women globally, including in countries like India, where it was adapted by theatre veteran Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal, with its characters represented by Indian women from different communities.
At 90 minutes, a single act, and without a break, it may seem a bit daunting at first, but Chivers keeps the audience engaged with quick pacing and seamless transitions into its conclusion. And this brings us back to its casting, because this is a character-driven piece requiring intuitive and emotionally intelligent actors to understand the unspoken layers and dynamics between the characters. It is probably the actor in Chivers who understood this well enough to know he needed actors who could seamlessly integrate these diametrically distinct personalities.
Therefore, kudos to Chivers for taking it upon himself to produce the 2.0 version of the play with an able crew and cast — especially given that this marks his return to stage direction since his college days. And for Casella to take the advice and make the characters more inclusive, was the right thing to do. Perhaps Chivers' production could spawn more stage productions of the 2.0 version across the world (akin to "The Vagina Monologues"), sparking conversations among men across race and color — that it’s okay to be yourself, that size isn’t everything, and just maybe, some of that male aggression might reduce for the betterment of humanity.
"The Irish Curse 2.0: The Diverse Curse (Revised Version)" is currently performing at the Broadwater Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038, until August 3rd, 2025. The show is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French.
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