I ran into actor Robert WC Kennedy at the Youngblood show this past week. He had kind of a thick beard. I asked him about it. He told me that it was for a role. He was in a show with Milwaukee Irish Arts that was going to be performed in Dublin, Ireland at mid-month. I asked him if it was at all daunting to be going out to Ireland to perform and Irish script--essentially an American playing Irish to the Irish. Actually, as it turns out, that's not it at all. The script in question is called White Woman Street it was written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry, but it's set in Ohio in 1916. The drama by an Irish playwright evidently plays out like on old western. Here's the plot description from the press release:
"It’s Ohio, at Easter 1916, and five ragtag outlaws from the American melting pot are being led by Irish expatriate, Trooper O’Hara, toward a huge payoff from a gold train. But first Trooper will lead them through the town of White Woman Street, and unbeknownst to them, to a meeting in a brothel to which destiny drags Trooper to face events haunting him from the past."
Cool.
And Milwaukee will have a chance to see the play before it heads off to Dublin as the show will be staged at the Milwaukee Cultural Heritage Center May 2nd through 6th. All performances are pay-what-you-can. For more information, visit Milwaukee Irish Arts online.
