GONNE/YEATS - A Literary Cabaret 6/15 (NYC)

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GONNE - BUT NOT FORGOTTEN 

It's been a while since I had a play produced, so I am naturally excited by the NYC premiere of GONNE/YEATS - a literary cabaret which is a collaboration between myself and St. Louis playwright Dennis Corcoran. 

The purpose of GONNE/YEATS is to introduce the world to Maud Gonne. 

Maud is known as the St. Joan of Ireland, though for our purposes here in the US, it might be more effective to align her with Angela Davis. 

GONNE/YEATS explores Maud through the eyes of Irish poet W. B. Yeats (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923), who is said to have written over 800 poems either to or about her - not to mention proposing to her five times over their life times - and eventually getting so frustrated that he proposed to her daughter! 

A story worthy of a Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracey movie, and there is a movie to be made here. 

Our cast features JR Robinson and Maryanna Principe as Mr. Yeats and Ms. Gonne. Thanks to my collaborator's knowledge of Irish music, we are weaving in a bit of music, which will be performed by Vocalist Jessica Kaufman and Violinist Amelia Meena. 

Spiral Theatre Studio's Artistic Director, Paula J. Riley, will bring a narrative voice to the cabaret in the persona of Countess Constance Markievicz, Maud's great ally in the women's voice for Irish Independence.

GONNE/YEATS fuses the poetry of Yeats with the writings of Gonne. 

For details and to make a reservation, go to www.metropolitanroom.com and search the calendar for Saturday, June 15 at 4:00 pm. 

BTW - June 13 is Mr. Yeats' 148th birthday, so this is a bit of a birthday party as well! 

Jaz Dorsey 

Dramaturge/Managing Director 

The Spiral Theatre Studio 

www.thespiraltheatrestudio.com

Corcoran & Dorsey's GONNE/YEATS 12/13 - 16th (St. Louis)

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AAPEX's Jaz Dorsey and Dennis Corcoran 

premiere 

GONNE/YEATS 

at the Firecracker Press

December 13th thru the 16th

in association with the

Black Mirror Theatre Company

St. Louis

Hi. My name is Dennis Corcoran. I am the founder of a small, local (STL) theatre company, The Black Mirror. We are putting on a special program in mid-December at The Firecracker Press entitled Gonne/Yeats. It is what my collaborator, Jaz Dorsey, calls Literary Cabaret. 

In a nutshell, the program focuses on the lives and relationship of Maud Gonne (McBride) and William Butler Yeats using his poetry, episodes from her life and some music/singing of Loreena McKennitt. Our aim in developing this piece is to stimulate awareness of and interest in Maud Gonne, a singularly remarkable character in her own right. 

I hope you can join us - and that you will spread the word among your students and colleagues who might find Yeats' poetry and the life of this special woman, Maud Gonne, of interest. The venue, Firecracker Press, is both intimate and unique. We staged Samuel Beckett's KRAPP'S LAST TAPE there last year to fabulous reviews, both for the program itself as well as the choice of venue. 

Seating is limited. The cost is a suggested $10 donation, making it financially accessible to all. Go raibh míle maith agaibh agus beannachtaí. 

Dennis

AAPEX: Changing lives one playwright at a time

This is from Dennis Corcoran, the St. Louis playwright who wrote THE CONVERSATION. As a result of our reading, the play was picked up and is headed for a second reading at the NY Irish Arts Center shortly:

You know, Jaz ... you've changed my life. Not because of your posts but because of The Conversation in NYC in November, which was all my money but not a lot of it, all things considered, and which introduced me to a number of interesting people, some of whom are still very much a part of my life.

Because of that, indirectly as a result, I have been working with two AEA, SAG-AFTRA folks in NY on my next play. Ruth has proven to be a most generous, kind, open-hearted spirit. Denise, the dancer, is such a willing subject, so full of life and easy to smile. And because of them, I have actualy considered, though briefly, putting on a Beckett play in NY. After researching the cost, I surrended without firing a shot - OMG!

But just the name "NY" carries such wow-power here in St. Louis - it's ridiculous but those who learn of the reading, past or coming this week, all say "wow", as though it means the play is something more than it is or that I am something more than I am. And while that's all smoke and mirrors, and uncomfortable for that reason, it's an amazing experience nonetheless.

Because of all that, I am amazed by you. And then you send out notes like this ... and I read them, very carefully. I think about them. I, in effect, study them. You're so much easier to take than a book on theatre by x-authority ... in fact, you're a joy to take.

Anyway - we have rehearsal and I am both directing (or it is directing me) and in it. So, I need to be off book TODAY! Must get back to it.

Thank you, Jaz, for ... for so much.

D