The Plough and the Stars with Milwaukee Irish Arts

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Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars had an intense audience reaction when it was originally staged in Dublin in 1926. Audiences members rushed the stage. W.B. Yeats yelled at them. Must have been a very surreal moment of anger, but one might expect that with a topical play concerning certain political events from only ten years prior to the show’s opening. The 1916 Easter Rebellion that had Irish republicans looking to throw-off the yoke of British rule. 3,500 Irish were taken prisoner. 1,800 were sent to internment camps. It was a violent time in the history of the two nations. Ten years later, O’Casey staged a play set during the time as the third part of his Dublin Trilogy. 

The play takes place in a Dublin tenement between 1915 and 1916. Represented in the ensemble are Irish patriots, English loyalists and Socialists. This month, Milwaukee Irish Arts stages a production of the drama featuring quite a cast. The notable talents of Dylan Bolin, Robert W.C. Kennedy, Maggie Ferol McGwin, Nate Press, Jocelyn Ridgeley, Liz Shipe and David Rothrock re joined by several others. The past dramatic credits of everyone here would be too lengthy to mention. Suffice it to say, if you’re looking to launch an Irish revolution on a stage in Milwaukee, this is the cast that you want behind you. There’s a tremendous amount of talent in the ensemble. Helming the production is seasoned local theatre fixture Bo Johnson. 

Milwaukee Irish Arts’ staging of The Plough and the Stars runs Apr. 14 -18 at the Irish Cultural Heritage Center on 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets and more, visit Milwaukee Irish Arts online.