In November 2018 Backstage Theatre and Creative Ireland Longford in association with Captain Moonlight Theatre Company will be staging a new musical adaptation of Castle Rackrent, Maria Edgeworth’s legendary comic masterpiece to celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth.
This world-famous text, written in Edgeworthstown, is an exuberant satire of the landlord class who had complete control of land and politics in 18th century Ireland. Maria Edgeworth depicts them as a parcel of rogues and grotesques, hilariously addicted to wine, women, gambling, extortion, casual cruelty and just about every other vice available to them. She also manages to make them charming, witty, naïve and sentimental and easy prey for the commercially-minded coming men of their day. Their whole story is told by their servant, Thady Quirk, who does a magnificent job of character assassination on each of the Rackrents, even as he protests his life-long loyalty to the family.
This adaptation by professional Theatre Director and playwright Johnny Hanrahan, who recently wrote and directed Maria in Mind for the Edgeworthstown Literary Festival, will require actors, musicians, singers and potentially Sean-nós dancers. There is scope in the ensemble for people of all ages both children and adults and no previous acting experience is necessary. There will also numerous roles behind the scenes (stage crew, set construction, costume, sound etc) for those interested in this aspect of the work.
Johnny will direct this piece with a small professional core team of voice coach, choreographer, singing teacher, etc. This team are all highly experienced in facilitating creativity in those who may not yet be fully-aware of their own creative potential.
45 members of the local community will join a core cast of professional actors to bring this piece to life. Embarking on rehearsals and workshops with this professional team, these members of Longford community will showcase their talents over the three-night run.