TOM TITUS:Laguna is a little piece of Ireland for Farrell

cpt-titus01TextDU27365RTHEATER PREVIEW

For Irish play- wright Bernard Farrell, the Laguna Playhouse is sort of a home away from home.

Farrell, whose latest project, “The Verdi Girls,” will receive its world premiere in Laguna this weekend, has had a long and happy association with the playhouse.

Four of his plays — “Kevin’s Bed,” “Stella by Starlight,” “Lovers at Versailles” and “Many Happy Returns” — have been produced in the art colony since 2000.

“The Verdi Girls,” which closes the playhouse’s 2006-07 season, will be Farrell’s first play to premiere in America, as well as the first one commissioned outside of Ireland.

Because most of his plays are set on the Emerald Isle, playhouse executive director Richard Stein thought he’d stretch Farrell’s imagination by suggesting an American slant for the new one.

“We put no restrictions on him, but said it might be a fun challenge for him if he’d like to think about using American characters or locations,” Stein said. “Of course, we like his work anyway, so we said just write a great play and we’ll be happy.”

“I think I was secretly hoping he would write a play about an American in Ireland,” said playhouse artistic director Andrew Barnicle, who has staged all of Farrell’s plays in Laguna and is directing “The Verdi Girls.”

“But he took the setting out of Ireland and put it in Milan.” The playwright did use two American characters — along with an Italian, a Canadian, two Britons and, of course, one from Ireland.

“It’s like the United Nations,” said the prolific playwright, who’s been churning out scripts since 1979 and insists that, while his plays all are comedies, some have a serious intent.

“Drama is a vehicle for comedy, so when I had an opportunity to write a play about Verdi, I based it in Europe and not America or Ireland. Everyone is in unknown territory, and when you get that kind of pressure, you get comedy.”

“The Verdi Girls” focuses on a group of opera buffs who convene in Milan for their annual Verdi Weekend that culminates in a command performance and the traditional Verdi Quiz.

“Some participants, however, have more than opera on their agenda as they turn the event into a comic drama rivaling any by their operatic idol,” the director said.

The final preview performance of Farrell’s latest work will be offered tonight at 8 p.m. Opening night (by invitation only) is Saturday at 7:30 and regular performances will be given Tuesdays through Sundays until July 1.

The playwright cautions that you needn’t be opera fans to enjoy “The Verdi Girls.”

“You’ll recognize the music, but you may not know what it’s called,” Farrell says. “I think the play is very populist and accessible.”