Gaelic Players Stage The King of Friday’s Men
The New Haven Gaelic Players is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a production of The King of Friday’s Men, Wednesday through Sunday, Nov. 7 to Nov. 11 at the Irish American Community Center, 9 Venice Place, East Haven.
Brian Beirne of Madison will be the director.
The King of Friday’s Men by M.J. Molloy is a 1948 drama that highlights themes relevant to #MeToo.
The New Haven Gaelic Players is based at the New Haven Gaelic Football and Hurling Club and Irish American Community Center in East Haven.
“It’s fitting that The King of Friday’s Men is the production we’re staging for our 50th anniversary,” says Gaelic Players founder and artistic director Charlie Starrs. “Ever since I saw this play in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, I’ve never forgotten it and I’ve wanted to produce it. With many different sets and roles, it’s not an easy play to put on. I’m thrilled that in our 50th year, the stars have aligned for us to pull off this remarkable work.”
The cast of the production includes Starrs’s daughter, Thelma Starrs. His wife, Margaret Starrs, will do makeup for the show, and she and the couple’s other children have also appeared in Gaelic Players productions over the years.
Written in 1948, The King of Friday’s Men takes place in County Mayo in the 1780s and centers on a woman, Una, who runs away and orchestrates a deception to avoid unwanted advances from her landlord. At the time, wealthy English landlords could assert dominance over single female tenants at will. It’s a story that adds historical perspective to the current national conversation around sexual assault.
“My character is a ‘tallywoman,’” says Doreen Busca, who plays Maura Pender in her 10th production with the Gaelic Players. “She’s a lower class, single woman who is forced by her landlord to be his lover. It’s hard to stomach, but this is something that really went on. The fact that the situation is so repulsive to a modern audience shows how far we’ve come with women’s rights, but with all of the abuse and misconduct from high profile men that has come to light this year, it’s easy to see how far we have yet to go.”
In addition to commentary on gender and class, the The King of Friday’s Men also contains a great deal of humor and is a fascinating window into the era it portrays. It’s a play about divided loyalties that, despite the serious subject matter, is often lighthearted in tone. The story also revolves around shillelagh fighting, an ancient Irish martial tradition.
“There’s so much to like about this piece, but to me the most wonderful thing about it is the authentic 18th century Irish dialect,” says Beirne, who is directing his third production for the Gaelic Players. “It really immerses you in the time and place of the story. The language is at once alien, with turns of phrase very far removed from the way we speak today, and yet quite relatable in its wit and expressiveness.”
For more information or to reserve tickets, call 203-318-8258 or email gaelicplayerstickets@yahoo.com.
Cast:
Gaisceen Brehony-Paul Tynan, New Haven
Una Brehony-Jillian Simms, Deep River
Owen Fenigan-Michael DePascale, Shelton
Maura Pender-Doreen Busca, Hamden
Bartley Dowd-Mick Malone, Milford
Boorla-Paul Pender, Durham
Rory Commons-Peter Lynch, New Haven
Kitty-Siobhan Dacey, Hamden
Biddy-Thelma Starrs , Wallingford
Murty-Cathal Burke, New Haven
Caeser French-Jon Leone, Wallingford