Emotions run high and battle lines are drawn when family and political loyalties collide in a powerful new family drama by John Fazakerley. Tony-nominated directorWilson Milam (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) helms a distinguished ensemble cast in the world premiere of Corktown '57, opening March 28as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre.
Home to Irish immigrants since the early part of the 20th century, the Philadelphia community known as "Corktown" was a hotbed of pro-Irish activity that reached its climax in the late 1950s - a time when Irish Republican Army splinter groups had begun to advocate violence against civilian targets as a strategy to drive Britain out of Ireland.
"The play is a fiction, but it's inspired by memories of my family," says Fazakerley, who was motivated by a shoebox of old photographs he discovered after his father died - including a 1948 photo of his grandfather holding him as a baby. That photo is now the poster for this production.
"My grandfather was an unrepentant Irish Republican who wouldn't give up the fight," the playwright continues. "In his last days, he came to live with us, and I became his caretaker. He would regale me with stories of the family coming to America. Though I knew he was highly political, I never realized what that meant until I began to question family elders, who would entertain me with stories of Grandpop."
Corktown '57 features Nick Tate (The Killer Elite, LOST, StarTrek DS) as the family patriarch who, when told he has six months to live, hatches a scheme to regain his status in the eyes of the Irish Republican movement. Irish-born actors Andrew Connolly and Kevin P. Kearns (previously seen in Milam-directed productions of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Poor Beast in the Rain) take on the roles of Mike's eldest son, John (regarded as a turncoat to the family because he joined the reviled British military) and his son-in-law, Ciaran, an IRA activist. The story takes place in the remodeled basement of youngest son Frank and his wife Janice, played by John Ruby (Touch - winner Best Actor, Studio City Film Festival) and Dublin-born Natalie Britton (Perrier's Bounty alongside Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson and Jim Broadbent, The Time of Your Life at London's Finborough Theatre); their son, Johnny, is performed by 12-year old Jonah Beres. Mike's daughters, Kaitlin, a devout sympathizer to the Irish cause, and Marie, are played respectively by Rebecca Tilney (The Dinosaur Within at The Theatre @ Boston Court) and Belen Greene (Wedding Band, The Curse of Oedipus and Peace In Our Time at Antaeus). Rounding out the cast is Josh Clark (Peace In Our Time, Oedipus, The Autumn Garden and Tonight at 8:30 with Antaeus) who plays Tim Flynn, a family cousin and the local IRA commander.
Wilson Milam directed The Lieutenant of Inishmore on Broadway (Tony and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), in London (RSC Stratford/Barbican/Garrick) and again at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Other L.A. credits include Rank (Odyssey) and Poor Beast in the Rain(Matrix). Regional credits in the U.S. include: American Buffalo, God of Carnage, Glengarry Glen Ross and The Seafarer (Seattle Rep); Warrior Class, God of Carnage (Alley Theater, Houston); Closer (Berkeley Rep); Bug (Woolly Mammoth); Killer Joe (Next, Chicago; 29th St Rep/Soho Playhouse, NY);Pot Mom (Steppenwolf); and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (A Red Orchid, Chicago). UK and Ireland credits include Harvest, Flesh Wound, Fresh Kills (Royal Court); Lay Me Down Softly, Defender of the Faith, On Such As We (Abbey); Othello (Shakespeare's Globe); Hurlyburly (Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic/Queens); True West (Bristol Old Vic); A Lie of the Mind (Donmar); Swimming With Sharks (Vaudeville); The Wexford Trilogy(Tricycle); Chimps (Liverpool Playhouse); Bug (Gate, London); and Killer Joe (Traverse, Edinburgh/Bush/Vaudeville, London).
John Fazakerley has been working in theater and film as an actor and writer for 40 years. He has had two plays produced in New York, including A Day's Grace, produced and directed by Warren Robertson, and Bad Blood, which Fazakerley directed himself. Most recently, his short play Magic Rabbit was produced as part of an evening of six one-acts starring Emmy Award-winning actress Joanna Miles ("By far the most involving is 'Magic Rabbit' by John Fazakerley" -LA Weekly). As an actor, he has appeared in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, John Huston's Independence, and J. Lee Thompson's Eakins. He was a founding member of the People's Light and Theatre Company located in Malvern, PA where he appeared in Arthur Kopit's Indians, Christopher Fry's A Lady's Not For Burning and Arthur Miller's Incident At Vichy among others.
Scenic design for Corktown '57 is by Joel Daavid; lighting design is by Leigh Allen; sound design is by Cricket S. Myers; costume design is by Jackie Gudgel; graphic design is by Kiff Scholl; and casting is by Michael Donovan, CSA. The stage manager is Marissa Drammissi, and Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners produces.
Corktown '57 opens for press on March 28 and continues through May 3. Performances take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at2 p.m. There will be two preview performances, on Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27, both at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 on Fridays and Sundays and $30 on Saturdays; previews are $15. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (323) 960-5770 or go to www.plays411.com/corktown.
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