RCP's Irish Players Open THE FIELD March 20 at MuCCC Theater

By: Sally Henry Fuller Mar. 15, 2015

The Irish Players program of the Rochester Community Players' The Field Opens This Friday, March 20. RCP's Irish Players production examines community coverup of a terrible crime; Seven performances scheduled March 20 to 29.

The performance is located at: MuCCC Theater; 142 Atlantic Avenue (see the "Venues" page of our website, rochestercommunityplayers.org)

Tyler Lucero (as Tadhg) and Bill Alden (as Bull McCabe) in The Field. Full resolution press photo available.

How much: $19 General Admission; $14 Seniors (over age 65); $9 Juniors (under age 25); tickets are available online at MuCCC.org or by phone at 866-811-4111 (there is a $1 per order fee for phone orders)

The Irish Players program of the Rochester Community Players presents The Field, by John B. Keene, March 20-29 at MuCCC Theater, 142 Atlantic Avenue.

About the play: Written in 1965, The Field tells the story of a dispute over the sale of a field in land-starved Ireland. The widow Butler has put up a field for auction. Bull McCabe, a local farmer who had used the property for grazing for years, felt that only he was entitled to purchase the plot. The dispute leads to a terrible crime.

While based on the hunger for land in rural Ireland, the theme is universal, not so much the crime itself or the motives of the perpetrator, as the reaction of the community. Everyone knows what happened, yet no one will say anything. How can these people live with themselves?

That question - how can someone commit or cover up a horrible crime and live with himself or herself? - is as important today as it was forty years ago. Fear, greed, clan loyalty, disdain for traditional religion, class resentment, resistance to established authority, and a general atmosphere where a comfortable lie is preferable to facing reality.

John B. Keane is recognized as one of Ireland's greatest playwrights. His plays include The Year of the Hiker, Big Maggie, Sive, Sharon's Grave, Many Young Men of Twenty, The Man from Clare, and Moll, as well as many others. He was also well known for his humorous writings and his short stories.

"In The Field, John B. Keane draws a portrait of rural life in Ireland in the mid-20th century that is both loving and damning, sorrowful and censorious. In the hearts of villagers involved in the cover-up of an act of violence, cowardice and an easy accommodation with brutality sit alongside a robust humor, loyalty to clan and class, and a fierce love of the land." Charles Isherwood, The New York Times.

The production is directed by Jean Gordon Ryon, and the cast includes Bill Alden, Matt Ames, Marty Brancato, Kathy Dauer, Ken Dauer, John Jaeger, Barbara Lobb, Tyler Lucero, Greg Ludek, Karen Mason, Kiefer Shenk, and Robert Shea.

Performance schedule:

Friday, March 20 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 21 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, March 22 at 2:00 PM
Thursday, March 26 at 8:00 PM
Friday, March 27 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, March 29 at 2:00 PM

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