Photo by Kathleen Cavalaro/Bird & Bough

The Players’ Ring kicks off its 22nd mainstage season with the world premiere of Black Mayo, an original play by Margaret McAleese.

In Black Mayo, an Irish-American family in New York City feud over their political beliefs in the weeks leading up to the 1998 peace agreement between Ireland and Great Britain. As Brighid Mannion tries to shun her family who support the Irish Republican Army’s causes, she is faced with personal challenges along the waterway of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, a gateway to NYC’s harbor and waterway back to Ireland. The boat she builds becomes a symbol of resiliency and shame, as her family loyalty is tested. A clan of barkeeps and artists, the Mannion family tries to persevere from centuries of political struggles, while maintaining their dignity as their legacy haunts them.

“The Belfast Agreement was signed fifteen years ago, but this play and story are relevant today,” says McAleese. “There are still pockets of conflict in Northern Ireland. In December 2012, the Belfast City Council voted to fly the Union flag on designated days, rather than year-round, causing the city to erupt in more violence. Police officers were attacked, cars were set on fire, and hundreds of people attending a Christmas celebration had to be evacuated.”

“We don’t hear much of that news in our own country because it’s happening on the other side of the pond,” says McAleese. “But there are Irish-American families who are still passionate about ‘the troubles’. This play explores the fictional Mannion family’s personal involvement with the cause as the peace agreement approaches in 1998.”

Directed by Joi Smith, Black Mayo features Kolby Hume, Whitney Smith, Lesley Hamblin, E. Christopher Clark, and Michael Lavoie.

August 30th – September 15th
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 9/1 & 9/8 at 7pm, and Sunday 9/15 at 2pm

There will be a special event taking place on August 30th, in celebration of opening The Players’ Ring 22nd Season. Please join us for refreshments and live Irish music at 7pm, as well as a talk back with the actors, director and playwright after the performance!

Tickets $15 General and $12 Students, Seniors & Members

Players’ Ring
105 Marcy St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801

603-436-8123 for Reservations
Go to Box Office for ticket prices and to purchase tickets online

Visit our Black Mayo Photo Album

Please join us for Auditions for V-Day 2014

When:
Monday Sept. 9th starting at 4pm.

Auditions are by appointment only. Please email Christine Dulong at SeacoastAuditions@gmail.com with “VDAY Auditions” in the subject line to schedule an appointment.

Where:
Seacoast Repertory Theater 125 Bow St. Portsmouth NH

What to bring:
Please prepare one short monologue to audition with, and we will provide sides for you to read. If you would like to audition with one of the pieces from the show, you may do so. Please provide a headshot and resume (if you have one available), along with a list of conflicts you may have between November 2013 and February 2014.

All roles available.

Rehearsals will begin in November 2013.

V-Day Portsmouth will be February 7th, 8th & 9th 2014 at the Seacoast Repertory Theater

V-Day Rochester will be February 20th & 21st 2014 at the Rochester Opera House

This is a benefit performance.
100% of the proceeds to benefit local organizations SASS (Sexual Assault Support Services) and A Safe Place, as well as 10% of that going globally to V-Day.

About V-Day:
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. V-Day is a catalyst for mobilizing women and men to heighten awareness about violence against women and girls. By creating this global community, V-Day strives to empower women to find their collective voices and demand an end to the violence that affects one in three women in the U.S and around the world.

The Vagina Monologues has been hailed by The New York Times as “funny” and “poignant” and by the Daily News as “intelligent” and “courageous”. This groundbreaking show gives voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, thoughtful and thoroughly human stories diving into the mystery, humor, pain, power, wisdom, outrage and excitement buried in women’s experiences.

For more information about V-Day, please visit http://www.vday.org

Any questions you may have, please email backalleynh@gmail.com