Eleemosynary:
La Cosa Nostra in association with Friars Gate Theatre Kilmallock present "Eleemosynary" by Lee Blessing. It is a very dramatic piece for three female actors which runs without an interval for 90 mins.
This play is an intriguing
tale that tells the story of three women intertwined in that most complicated
of relationships: mother and daughter, then grandmother and granddaughter.
The play is the story of three women who long for knowledge, intellectual
stimulation and freedom. It tells a story of pain, choices, reconciliation,
anger and avoidance. Mainly, "Eleemosynary" tells about love, both
the good and the bad.
It is a wonderful play with layers and layers; some obvious, some requiring
a little more effort to discover their hiding place. The work is entertaining
and thought provoking.
Dorothea the Grandmother is an extremely intelligent woman who finds her intellectual
curiosity trapped in marriage and motherhood to four children. Dorothea can
only relate to her daughter who also has inherited this wonderful intelligence.
And she takes her little girl on a dazzlingly cockeyed exploration of reason's
failings.
Artie her daughter is troubled, intense, angry and confused. Her first desire
is to get far away from her mother. But it is necessary for the actor to make
the humanity of the character come through, so the audience can understand
and relate to Artie's actions and feelings.
Mother and daughter come to a resolution of their differences by staying far
apart. But then Artie gives birth to a baby girl, and Dorothea will not be
kept away.
Echo also has been given the family yearning for knowledge and Dorothea is
ecstatic about the wonders she can show her little granddaughter. Echo has
an innate intelligence that resonates with truth when her fascination with
words wins her the trophy at the National Spelling Bee.
But Dorothea's attentions drive her daughter away and Echo never knows her
mother until she is almost grown. This is the conflict that fuels the play
and the conflict that faces all mothers and daughters. Where is that happy
balance where affection, forgiveness and love reside?
It was felt that this play was an ideal sequel to Agnes of God since it explores
and amplifies on many of the issues raised in the former production.
Author: (Lee Blessing)
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Lee Blessing
was born in Minneapolis in 1950. He received his B.A. from Reed College
in Portland, Oregon and a double M.F.A. in poetry and playwriting from
the University of Iowa. His plays include: Fortinbras, Down The Road and Two Rooms (commissioned and produced by the La Jolla Playhouse); Cobb (Yale Repertory Theatre); Eleemosynary (Manhattan Theatre Club); Lake Street Extension , (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati), Riches, Independence ,Oldtimers Game and Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music , (all at Actors Theatre of Louisville). A Walk in the Woods opened on Broadway in 1988 and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, and its subsequent West End production in London starring Sir Alec Guinness was nominated for the Olivier Award. It has since been produced worldwide and on PBS's American Playhouse. |
