O'CAROLAN'S FAREWELL TO MUSIC Comes to Middlebury Next Month

Middlebury Acting Company will present O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music by Patrick Ball and Peter Glazer.

In the late 17th century, England invaded Ireland and took great tracts of land from the local people, installing English Gentry as overlords and creating misery among the Irish.

O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music follows the life of Turlough O’Carolan, a beloved blind 18th Century Irish Harpist and bard. His tale is told through eyes of fellow poet Charles MacCabe, O’Carolan’s lifelong friend and traveling companion. But their deep friendship reflects the turbulent times. O’Carolan is willing to play for the invading English gentry, while MacCabe refuses to entertain them. Can their friendship survive this crucial test?

While the music and story spring from the 17th Century invasion, the play seems as current as our own troubled times. This show, performed by master reader and actor Ethan Bowen, is interspersed with O’Carolan’s classic tunes arranged for the guitar and played by local author and musician Stephen Kiernan.  

Town Hall Theater will be configured so that the audience and actors share an intimate space suggesting an Irish Pub. Come share in this lovely tale with the feel and sound of Ireland. Libations available!

This production, directed by Andrew Ritter, was originally staged at Vermont Stage Company in 2003, under the direction of Mark Nash.  

Performances will begin on Friday, March 15 at 7:30 pm and play Saturday the 16th at 7:30 pm and Sunday the 17th at 2pm.

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