Blackwater Angel
by Jim Nolan
by Jim Nolan
Valentine Greatrakes, a Puritan soldier with healing powers, returns to Ireland grappling with his identity and fame while seeking understanding from the enigmatic singer Angel Landy amidst family turmoil and the demands of desperate townspeople.
About The Play
About The Play
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.
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.