On Monday, May 14, at 8:00 PM, the 92nd Street Y is presenting the American premiere of two William Trevor plays, Going Home and Mr. McNamara. Based on short stories he wrote in the 1970s, the staged readings are part of the 2006/07 season of literary programs presented by the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center.
William Trevor's stories, most of which are set in Ireland and England, range from black comedies populated by eccentrics and outcasts to tales of Irish history and politics. In the press release, Ciarán O'Reilly, the producing director of New York's Irish Repertory Theatre and the director of these productions, comments, "William Trevor is first and foremost a short-story writer, but the writing style and characterizations he employs in these plays show his ability to change seamlessly from medium to medium. His dialogue flows so naturally that it's almost as if he can't stop himself."The cast of Going Home and Mr. McNamara includes Colin Lane, Paul Hecht, James Stevens, Terry Donnelly and J. Smith Cameron.Press notes continue, "Going Home (1972) explores a tension-fraught train ride shared by an unruly prep school student and the school's assistant headmistress. The headmistress, Miss Fanshawe, is pushed to her limits by the student, Carruthers, who acts out because of problems at home. In the end, though, it is Carruthers who learns the limits of anger and frustration. Mr. McNamara (1976), originally conceived as a short story, is the tale of a boy named Michael who attempts to learn more about his father after his death. The dark family secret Michael uncovers turns his life upside down and forces him to re-examine everything he has known in a new light."Videos