Serca Festival of Irish Theatre
Theatre Prospero is proud to present the
Serca Festival of Irish Theatre,
June 22 – June 27, 2010.
Click here to read Liz Nicholls’ article about Serca Festival from the Edmonton Journal [Tuesday, June 22]
This summer, experience a piece of Ireland at the Serca Festival of Irish Theatre, presented by Theatre Prospero as a part of the Caught in the Act theatre series on 118th Avenue. Featuring four mainstage plays, peppered with Irish poetry readings and music performed on-site between shows, this six-day Festival has something for everyone.
The Plays
Maggie-Now Part 2: The Book of Everything
Maggie-Now Part 2 tells the continuing story of Maggie-Now and her extended family of neighbours and friends. This sweeping tale of love, betrayal, hope and redemption is set against turn of the century Ireland and Brooklyn, New York.
In the first part of this play series, we trace Patrick Dennis’s journey from Ireland to his new life in America as a stable hand. Part Two continues with Maggie-Now leaving school at age 16 to care for her infant brother after the death of her beloved Mother.
Funny, bittersweet, and always engaging, the story of Maggie-Now, her family and friends continues to enchant Edmonton audiences of all ages since it first premiered at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 2006. Charming, hilarious and at times deeply poignant, it is not too late to see what everyone continues to talk about!
Adapted for the stage and directed by Jennifer Spencer, based on the book by Betty Smith, and featuring Mat Busby, Kendra Connor, Julie Golosky, Mark Henderson, Troy O’Donnell, Garett Ross, Adam Burgess, Jack McHale, Kylen Sabey and Paula Humby
Spokesong
Stewart Parker’s Spokesong is a witty, giddy, gritty and heartfelt play about peace, hope and bikes in the face of car-bombs, death and despair.
1973 is a rough year for Belfast, Frank Stock, and the bicycle shop where the play’s action takes place. Bikes are out of fashion. The car-bomb is flattening half the city. The car-mad city council wants to make an express-way that would flatten the shop, which Frank inherited from his bike-mad grandparents. Nieghbourhood paramilitary goons are lurking about muttering threats about urban renewal.
So it’s a perfect time for Frank to fall in love with a sharp-tongued girl on the edge of despair!
The play is a bright, black and funny-as-hell mix of Mamet-like grit and Wilde-like elegance from Northern Ireland’s greatest playwright.
Written by Stewart Parker, with music by Jimmy Kennedy; directed by Mark Henderson, musical direction by Joel Crichton, and featuring Frank Zotter, Adam Burgess, Mat Busby, Kendra Connor, Troy Young and Jennifer Spencer.
The Good Thief
Conor McPherson’s The Good Thief is a one-man show that presents the tale of an un-named thug, a ‘small fish’ who takes a job that goes horribly wrong. He is meant to intimidate a man on behalf of a local crime boss, but instead the botched job leads to murder, kidnapping, and finally a desperate flee that results in unfortunate casualties and imprisonment. Though the story is violent and the protagonist brusque, the possibility of redemption is always on the horizon of this dark and fatalistic play.
Written by Conor McPherson, directed by Wayne Paquette, and featuring Frank Zotter.
This Lime Tree Bower
Conor McPherson’s This Lime Tree Bower is a coming-of-age tale as told by three young men who hail from a small seaside town in Ireland. Woven together are three monologues in which we learn the stories of Joe, who is bored with school and looking for adventure; his brother Frank, who is working full time in the family chipper and hatches “his great plan” to solve all the family’s troubles; and Ray, a debauched university lecturer who is dating their sister Carmel. This play climbs from the lowest lows to the highest heights and back again as the interconnected lives of these three men are turned upside down.
Written by Conor McPherson, directed by Amy DeFelice, and featuring Vincent Forcier, Jon Lachlan Stewart, and Cody Porter.
Tickets
Tickets are available in advance through Tix on the Square, or at the door starting 30 minutes before each show. Admission to one show costs $16.00, or $12.00 for students and seniors, while a pass to attend all four shows costs $40.00, or $30.00 for students and seniors.
Festival Schedule
| Tues. June 22 | Wed. June 23 | Thurs. June 24 | Fri. June 25 | Sat. June 26 | Sun. June 27 |
| Lime Tree Bower 7:00pm | Good Thief 7:00pm | Spokesong 2:00pm | Maggie-Now 2:00pm | Spokesong 2:00pm | Maggie-Now 3:00pm |
| Maggie-Now 9:15pm | Spokesong 8:45pm | Maggie-Now 7:00pm | Good Thief 6:15pm | Lime Tree Bower 5:00pm | Lime Tree Bower 7:00pm |
| Lime Tree Bower 9:45pm | Spokesong 8:00pm | Maggie-Now 7:15pm | Good Thief 9:15pm | ||
| Good Thief 10:00pm |
More Information
Further details are available on our website: www.sercafestival.ca.
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