As children fishing together and hanging out at the hide they had built in the chicken house, Francie Brady (an emotive and troubled Nicholas Barasch) and Joe Purcell (the effervescent and spirited understudy Dan Macke at this performance) know they could “live this way forever.” But both boys live in Ireland’s troubling neocolonial times. The political violence and the economic turmoil of the 1960s in Clones, Ireland have exacerbated the dysfunction of Francie’s parents. Francie’s alcoholic Da (an obtuse and broken Scott Stangland) is abusive to Francie and his suicidal Ma (a severely damaged yet caring Andrea Lynn Green) and this environment has unwittingly plunged him into a fantasy world that transitions from innocence to violence. Francie’s relationships have become as dysfunctional as his parents’ relationship.

The musical and the novel follow Francie’s irreversible journey from schoolboy to butcher boy. His low ego strength makes it difficult for Francie to cope with Mrs. Nugent’s (an irascible and overbearing Michele Ragusa) abusive slurs against him and his family. He overhears Mrs. Nugent’s conversation with his Ma after Francie “abuses” her nerdy son Phillip (an innocent yet Daniel Marconi): “I’ll tell you something Annie, it’s no wonder your boy is such a mean little runt. His father lying round in bars morning to midnight, a disgrace to the family, to the whole town, he’s no better than a pig. A PIG. Pigs! Sure the whole town knows it. PIGS!!!”

Mrs. Nugent’s diatribe liberates Francie’s manic-depressive and delusional states which leads to imposing a “Pig Toll Tax” on the Nugents, breaking into their household and defecating (like a pig) on the kitchen floor, finding employment at Mr. Leddy’s (David Baida) slaughterhouse where he hones his butchering skills, and ultimately “butchering” Mrs. Nugent. The four pigs (Teddy Trice, Carey Rebecca Brown, Polly McKie, and David Baida) appear throughout the musical as the Greek Chorus that both parses Francie’s dilemma and exposes his disturbing inner thoughts.

Just as Francie’s family and community failed to meet his basic needs for acceptance and nurturing, so did his nation-state Ireland fail to meet his needs and the needs of his parents. Hospitals, boarding schools, and hospitals failed Francie. The caring fabric of community failed Francie. “Butcher Boy” raises rich and enduring questions. What happens to children raised in abusive environments? What is the responsibility of societal structures to safeguard children from developing and/or exacerbating serios mental illness?

Asher Muldoon’s new musical closely follows the dramatic arc of Patrick McCabe’s 1992 novel with few changes in characterization or conflict. However, it is not clear that turning this novel into a musical adds anything to the development of the narrative; rather, the musical appears to detract from the strength of McCabe’s novel. Although Asher Muldoon’s musical is an engaging trope for the dissolution of a socioeconomic order and the parallel dissociative behavior of young Francie, it does not have the characters, the conflicts, and the ensuing plot properly developed to be completely successful.

The casting of actors who cannot sing does not help Ciarán O’Reilly’s otherwise careful direction. And the choice not to mike the cast results in unacceptable difficulty in hearing and understanding both book and lyrics, neither of which reaches the level of excellence.

Kudos to Irish Rep for giving Mr. Muldoon the opportunity to have a full-staged production of his new musical in New York City. One wishes the result had been better.