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Roosevelt University Theatre Conservatory Marks Centennial of Easter Rising on Oct. 23-25


Easter Rising

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–October 1, 2015.  In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s Easter Rising rebellion, Roosevelt University’s Theatre Conservatory will stage Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars on Oct. 23-25 at Roosevelt University in Chicago. (Pictured above is a scene from the Rising in Dublin during Easter Week in April 2016). 

A play about the people involved in one of Ireland’s most famous freedom uprisings, Roosevelt’s anniversary production of The Plough and the Stars recognizes the lengths the Irish have gone in order to obtain freedom, examining the rebellion through the character of the people who were affected.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 in Roosevelt’s seventh-floor O’Malley Theatre, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $10 each and are available by calling 312-341-3831.

Featuring humor and heartbreak, The Plough and the Stars explores the events leading to the deadly uprising as experienced by working-class occupants of a Dublin tenement house at the end of 1915 through the Rising during Easter week of April 1916.  Frequently regarded as controversial, particularly in its brutally honest depiction of its characters, The Plough and the Stars sparked a riot when it first premiered in Dublin in 1926.

“Incredibly funny at times, the play questions what it means to be a hero, leader, father, worker and mother.” said Jeff Christian, frequent director of and ensemble member with Irish Theatre of Chicago and a first-time guest director at Roosevelt.

“The issues examined in the play are still happening today, as we are still trying to figure out as a people who we are.
 
“The play showcases a talented Theatre Conservatory ensemble that steps into the time and place with an Irish mindset, the dialect of Dubliners as well as costumes and stage sets reminiscent of the period,” said Christian, who co-founded Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre and also served for eight seasons as artistic director of The Shakespeare Project of Chicago.

Source: www.roosevelt.edu


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