Gareth O'Donnell (Gar)

Gar is the play’s central character and protagonist. He is in his early-mid 20s, Irish, relatively uneducated, and works as an assistant in his father’s general store. His mother died a few days after she gave birth to him, and he has been raised by his father and their housekeeper, Madge. As the play begins, the restless and ambitious Gar is less than twenty-four hours away from leaving Ireland and starting a new life in America, where he has plans to live with his Aunt Lizzy, his mother’s sister.

In the play, the character of Gar is separated into two components, referred to as Public and Private. Each, according to the text, is to be played by a different actor. On one level, the distinction between the two is fairly straightforward. Public represents Gar’s outer self, the part that talks with people...