Magpie
Back by popular demand this 5 Star and Outstanding show is returning to The Lantern for the end of the Fringe.
Ireland, 1923.
Civil war has split country, friend and family. The story of “Magpie” follows two brothers, Michael and Patrick Murphy, within the confines of Kilmainham Gaol. One an IRA gunman fresh from the trenches of WWI, the other a Freestate prison guard. Both haunted by the past.
“Magpie” probes the complexity of loyalty between family and national allegiance, ideology, and experience. It resonates powerfully in today’s volatile times of war and conflict; enduring themes, as relevant today as they were a century ago.
The cast’s universally outstanding. Several possible ends suggest themselves, but not the one you’ll see in this one-hour play that covers as much as a far longer one, and feels longer, in exactly the right way. Never has “Two for Joy” proved so devastating an utterance as here. Outstanding.
Fringe Review
This is a journey of raw emotion and power, and the final understandings and empathy in the last ten minutes elevate a breathtakingly exceptional production to a must see. A stunning production, which is quite simply flawless.
BroadwayBaby ★★★★★
Related upcoming events
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20/06/2024 7:30 pm - 22/06/2024 8:30 pm“Because whatever has happened to humanity, whatever is currently happening, it is happening to us all. No matter how far off the screams of pain and terror, we live in one world.” (Alice Walker) //
Premiere of an experimental play that takes for its structure the four parts of the Geneva Convention – Wounded & Sick / Maritime / Prisoners of War / Civilians – to tell an ancient/contemporary story of the random depravity of war and its existential / psychological impacts for those who are involved and those who are not.The work grows out of an international collaboration between local writer/theatremaker Mark C. Hewitt and renowned Norwegian percussionist/composer Thomas Strønen. Stylised and kaleidoscopic, the fractured evolving narrative is performed by 4 actresses from 4 different countries, variously delivering lines in English, French, Polish and a smattering of other languages.
• “BRILLIANT. Thought-provoking, raw, provocative, multi-dimensional; use of music, space, silence ... the brave lack of ‘closure’ or conventional narrative.” (Audience feedback)
• “Loved the performance, the set and how it changed, likewise the music ...” (Audience feedback)
• “A really powerful provocative piece.” (Audience feedback)
Written & directed by Mark C. Hewitt. Performed by Marta Carvalho, Leann O'Kasi, Melissa Sirol, Maria Ziołkowska. Music by Thomas Strønen, performed and recorded by Time Is A Blind Guide. Technical design by Paul Phillips. Videography by Matt Parsons. Movement consultant: Miriam King.
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27/06/2024 7:30 pm - 29/06/2024 9:30 pmRoad
'Road' explores the lives of a small, close-knit community living in the eponymous 'road' in a working class, Lancashire town during the era of the 1980's Thatcher government - a time of high unemployment, civil unrest and deprivation.The action takes place over the course of one evening as the residents of the road prepare to go out to the pub and then on home afterwards. Despite its explicit nature, it was considered extremely effective in portraying the desperation of people's lives at this time, as well as containing a great deal of gritty, Northern humour.A passionate, poetic and positive portrayal of working class life wherein in the audience is invited to follow the narrator, Scullery, as he travels along the road, visiting the different homes of the characters and getting messy in the local pub.'Road' is the first play written by Jim Cartwright, and was first produced in 1986. The play was initially performed at the Royal Court Theatre "Upstairs", with Edward Tudor-Pole as Scullery, moving "Downstairs" in 1987 with Ian Drury as the narrator. It was later made for television by renowned director Alan Clarke and starred many young actors who later became well-known including Jane Horrocks, David Thewlis, Moya Brady and Lesley Sharp. The play has won numerous awards including the George Devine Award, Plays and Players Award and the Samuel Beckett Award.