Franklin Stage Company Presents Award-Winning MAGDALEN

Franklin Stage Company is pleased to present actress and playwright Erin Layton in her searing solo show Magdalen, August 10 - 13, at Chapel Hall in Franklin, NY. The piece, written by Ms. Layton and developed and directed by Julie Kline, is a fictional exploration of the women and children who passed through the real-life Magdalene Laundries as slave laborers in twentieth century Ireland, and of the complicity of church and government officials in hiding their tragic stories.

A subject of such recent films as The Magdalen Sisters, directed by Peter Mullen, and Philomena, starring Judy Dench, the Magdalen Laundries mark a painful chapter in Ireland's history. Started in the late 18th century as a home for "fallen women", they became a state sanctioned source of free labor, run by religious orders, that engaged in widespread abusive treatment of the young women who passed through them. In the nearly 200 years the Laundries were in operation, thousands of girls were consigned to them, not only for getting pregnant, but for being "troublesome", mentally ill, or even too beautiful. Children born to the inmates were adopted out in secret, leaving the birth mothers unable to track them. Although most Laundries closed down in the latter 20th century, prompted by changing sexual attitudes, the last Laundry closed in 1996 and in 2013 the state issued a formal apology and set up a fund for survivors.

"We are honored to be presenting Erin's work," said FSC Co-Artistic Directors Patricia Buckley and Leslie Noble. 'Her show explores all facets of this tragedy," continued Buckley, "and creates sensitive portraits of the brave survivors who spoke out against the institutions and brought their cruelty to light."

Erin Layton is a Brooklyn-based solo performing artist, producer and published playwright. Her plays include an adaptation of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Let Us Go Then, You And I, Weird Sisters, Pitch, and Pearl Merchant, among others. She has worked as an actress in New York and at several regional theaters including Actors Theatre of Louisville and St Louis Shakespeare Company. Erin is currently pursuing a guest artist/playwright residency at Long Island University in Brooklyn where she has worked as a guest performer in their productions of FIRES IN THE MIRROR, THE GLASS MENAGERIE and TWELFTH NIGHT.

Magdalen, Erin's first full-length play and solo play, has been presented at The Kumble Theater, New York City Irish Center, the American Irish Association of Westchester, Lehman College and Hofstra University. It has toured nationally and internationally to wide-acclaim. The UK's Public Review said, "The highest level of performance. Exact, sincere, riveting." The Huffington Post called it, "The performance of the (NY Fringe) festival." The show won Best Documentary Script, at the 2013 United Solo Festival, and was shortlisted for an Amnesty International Award.

Magdalen is underwritten by a generous grant from the Tri-M Foundation.

Showtimes are Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 5:00pm. Admission is free. (Donations gratefully accepted.) Seating is limited and reservations are strongly recommended. To reserve and for more information: www.franklinstagecompany.org 607-829-3700.

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