Back to Archive 2006
by Jim Nolan
Directed by Mark Giesser
Designed by John Schleffer with Alex Marker
Music by Joe Townsend
Lighting by Petter Skramstad
Costume Design by Nell Knudsen
Assistant Direction by Kate Wasserberg
Presented by Alces Productions in association with Concordance
The Cast:
Valentine Greatrakes - Séan Campion
Michael Maher - Stephen Cavanagh
Mathias Everard - Kevin Colson
Ellen Reilly - Ríona Kearney
Lizzie Maher - Laura Pyper
Thomas Wyvern - Joseph Rye
Ruth Greatrakes - Catherine Walker
Travelling Players - Ríona Kearney, Aaron McCusker, Michael Nersisyan
Eustacia Everard - Vicky Ogden
Angel Landy - Fiona O’Shaughnessy
Martin Reilly - Aaron McCusker
28 February - 25 March 2006
The UK debut on one of Ireland's most acclaimed contemporary dramatists...
In the summer of 1666, Valentine Greatrakes returns to his estate in rural Ireland, greatly shaken by a sojourn in London which has expanded his fame and exposed him to charges of treason. For Greatrakes is a former Puritan soldier who has the ability to heal by touch. With his family in turmoil as thousands besiege his home in search of cures, Greatrakes struggles to make sense of who or what he has become. An English troupe of players visiting the area may have an answer in the form of Angel Landy, a mysterious young woman with an exemplary gift of song. But Greatrakes’ attempt to understand Angel and what she might mean to him threatens to destroy them both…
Based on a true story, the play premiered at The National Theatre of Ireland’s Abbey Theatre in 2001, and now receives its UK premiere at the Finborough Theatre, increasingly well known for its production of Irish drama including the UK premiere of Frank McGuinness’ Gates of Gold and the first UK revival of Tom Murphy’s The Gigli Concert.
The distinguished cast includes Olivier, Evening Standard and Tony Award nominee Sean Campion who created the role of Jake Quinn in Stones In His Pockets in the West End and Broadway and whose most recent roles were at the Donmar Warehouse in The Cosmonaut’s Last Message… and for the Oxford Stage Company in Kathy Burke’s production of The Quare Fellow.; Tony nominee Kevin Colson; Fiona O’Shaughnessy, recently seen in the Abbey Theatre production of The Shaughraun in the West End; and Catherine Walker who has just won the Irish Times Best Actress award.
Playwright Jim Nolan is Writer-in-Residence at The National Theatre of Ireland, where his newest drama, Dark Star, will premiere in 2006. He is a founding member and former Artistic Director of Ireland's noted Red Kettle Theatre Company, and has written and directed for companies such as Field Day. Previous plays include The Gods Are Angry Miss Kerr, The Black Pool (which won the O.Z. Whitehead Award), The Boathouse, Moonshine (RTÉ/Bank of Ireland Award), The Guernica Hotel and The Salvage Shop, which won the Sunday Independent/Ford Spirit of Life Award for Play of the Year, and was nominated for the Irish Times/ESB Best New Play Award.
Blackwater Angel sees the UK debut of two leading New York Off-Broadway artists - director Mark Giesser’s previous productions include How to Build A Better Tulip, Code of the West; Hansen’s Cab, The Night They Burned Washington and Pledge of Allegiance; while OBIE award-winning designer John Scheffler has designed Off-Broadway and for major opera companies around the US including Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera.
PRESS ACCLAIM FOR THE ABBEY THEATRE PRODUCTION
"This is no politico-historic excavation of cruel English overlording, but rather a deeply layered meditation on a godless man who received, or believed he received, the gift of healing... it's a hugely courageous undertaking, and the pastiche of period English ties very interesting braids with the gutsy, quasi- Elizabethan, very contemporary Hiberno-English. Historic issues of human and cultural destruction recede in the face of immediate wrangles between men and strong women. ...the themes nag at you: the miracle-worker's inability to heal himself; the necessity for any moral man to reconcile himself to fate; spirituality in the face of a heedless god; miracles and desperate hope. For all its sidestepping of historical polemicism, this is a deeply serious work of soul-raking, big-stage literature."
Mic Moroney, The Guardian ***** Five Stars
“In a darkened theatre in a dark wood, I saw a theatrical miracle take place and it was as ordinary as you could imagine it and as powerful as you could want it to be" Munster Express
“This powerful new play from Jim Nolan…it is an ambitious landscape to paint, and Nolan succeeds compellingly.” Sunday Tribune
“Powerful, strong, deep…A major achievement for Jim Nolan and a fine addition to the canon of the National Theatre." Munster Expres
THE PRESS ON BLACKWATER ANGEL
“A truly magical and powerful piece of theatre...a towering central performance by Sean Campion”
Alistair Smith, The Stage
”Jim Nolan's writing evokes the sheer electricity of good theatre.”
Jeni Morrison, Fringe Report
“Once again, the Finborough has made a significant contribution to our dramatic repertory.”
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate.com
“The magnificent Sean Campion…dominates proceedings from beginning to end.”
T. Browne, WhatsOnStage.com
“Fiona O’Shaughnessy…is quite mesmeric and her ethereal voice remarkable”
Alistair Smith, The Stage
“A standout debut from newcomer Laura Pyper.”
T. Browne, WhatsOnStage.com
“Playwright Jim Nolan's spiritual and earthy subjects are beautifully set off by this thoughtful and finely tuned production at the intimate Finborough Theatre.”
Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine
“Mystic and material mix in strong Irish play...Ireland’s dramatic world clearly has another writer in the vein of Tom Murphy, whose The Gigli Concert played at the Finborough last year.”
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate.com
“A fascinating and poetic play”
Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine
“Very well acted, and...powerful.”
Robert Shore, Time Out
“Sean Campion expresses sharply Valentine’s inner turmoil and increasing distraction from the world around.”
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate.com
“Fiona O’Shaughnessy’s fine Angel, fragile in voice and ethereal in presence”
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate.com
“While this is an impressive ensemble performance, it is Campion’s powerful portrayal of a good man riddled with self-doubt and self-loathing that should, rightfully, take the plaudits.”
Alistair Smith, The Stage
“A fine cast including Séan Campion as Greatrakes, Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Angel, and the irrepressible Kevin Colson as Mathias Everard…make the most of the existential angst and moody reflection.”
Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine
"...Stylish set and costume design”
Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine
”The Finborough continues its impressive run with the UK premiere of Blackwater Angel by Irish playwright/director Jim Nolan...Nolan, although more well known for his contemporary work in Ireland (...his latest work Red Star to be performed at The Abbey Theatre later this year) has clearly poured his heart into this historical piece...For those who like their theatre flavoured with Shakespearian and Greek tragedy this is a real treat. Well worth a visit.”
T. Browne, WhatsOnStage.com
