In recognition of the life and work of Father Aengus Finucane, The Irish Repertory Theater (IRT) will donate all proceeds from the Dec. 1 performance of Eugene O'Neill's "The Emperor Jones"-as well as all staff and cast salaries-to Concern Worldwide US, the international humanitarian agency co-founded by the priest in the late 60s.
Thrust into humanitarian work at the outbreak of the Biafran conflict in 1968, when he served as a missionary in Nigeria, Finucane would spend the next 30 years in servIce To the world's very poorest men, women and children. He helped communities cope with war, natural disasters, and famines-in Bangladesh, following the country's war of independence from Pakistan; in Cambodia, during the reign of the Khmer Rouge; and Uganda, in the aftermath of the rule of Idi Amin. Finucane died in Dublin Oct. 6, at age 77.Ben Brantley, theater critic for The New York Times, hailed "The Emperor Jones" as a "magical production." The play chronicles the slow descent into madness and dementia of a grand personage whose losing battle with inner demons ultimately makes him an everyman. "O'Neill confronts us with our inner darkness," said Ciaran O'Reilly, the play's producing director and IRT co-founder, "while Aengus' life offers proof of man's tremendous power to do good in the face of it."Videos