Greta Garbo Came To Donegal - Tricycle Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
NICOLAS Kent will direct the world premiere of Frank McGuinness’ Greta Garbo Came to Donegal, which runs at the Tricycle Theatre from January 11 (previews from January 7) to February 20, 2010.
Greta Garbo Came to Donegal in 1967 and afterwards, nothing is ever the same.
Ireland is on the verge of violent change, two couples are on the verge of ending, a woman tries to save her family, a girl tries to save her future. Above it all but in the midst of things, determining what happens next, is the loveliest and loneliest of all women, the great Garbo.
But when the gods arrive, they can cause havoc, not least to themselves, as the divine Greta learns.
The cast is Angeline Ball (as Sylvia Hennessy), Lisa Diveney (Colette Hennessy), Michelle Fairley (Paulie Hennessy), Daniel Gerroll (Matthew Dover), Caroline Lagerfelt (Greta Garbo), Owen McDonnell (James Hennessy) and Tom McKay (Harry Caulfield).
Angeline Ball is best known for her screen role as Imelda Quirke in The Commitments. Her other screen credits include The General, The Gambler, Trojan Eddie and Ransom (film); EastEnders, Brothers in Trouble, Our Friends in the North, Doc Martin and Any Time Now (TV). On stage, she has appeared as Mrs Gogan in Stephen Rea’s production of The Plough and the Stars at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.
Lisa Diveney‘s theatre credits include The Glass Menagerie, Cleansed, Arms and the Man and John Gabriel Borkman. Her television credits include Afterlife, Broken News, The Story of Tracy Beaker, The Green Green Grass and Enid (as the young Enid Blyton).
Michelle Fairley has previously appeared at the Tricycle Theatre in Hostage and Frank McGuinness’ The Factory Girls. Her other stage credits include Dancing At Lughnasa (Old Vic), Neverland (Royal Court), Scenes From A Big Picture (National Theatre), The Weir (Duke of York’s Theatre) and The Wild Duck and Othello (both at the Donmar Warehouse). For the latter, she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.
Her screen credits include Misfits, Lark Rise To Candleford, A Short Stay in Switzerland and the final two Harry Potter films (as Mrs Granger).
Daniel Gerroll‘s stage credits include Once a Catholic and The Love of a Good Man (Royal Court). On screen, he has appeared in The Starter Wife, Sisters and Cashmere Mafia (TV); Chariots of Fire, Drop Dead Fred and Big Business (film).
Following her stage debut in The Philanthropist (Royal Court), Caroline Lagerfelt appeared in numerous productions on Broadway – Lend Me A Tenor, The Real Thing, Otherwise Engaged, Small Family Business and The Constant Wife. She was also in the Tricycle’s transfer production of Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom off Broadway, which was also directed by Nicolas Kent.
Her screen credits include Gossip Girl (as Ce Ce Rhodes), Nash Bridges (as Inger Dominguez) and Beverly Hills 90210 (as Sheila Silver) (TV); August, Poseidon, All the King’s Men and Minority Report (film).
Owen McDonnell‘s stage credits include Berlin Hannover Express (Hampstead Theatre), Hitchcock Blonde (Royal Court), Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Death of a Salesman. On screen, he has appeared in Spooks and Singlehanded.
Tom McKay was at the Tricycle earlier this year as part of the company for The Great Game: Afghanistan. His other theatre credits include Frost/Nixon (Gielgud Theatre), Rough Cuts (Royal Court), On The Third Day (New Ambassadors Theatre), Henry V and Mother Clapp’s Molly House (National Theatre) and Macbeth and Lord of the Flies (Royal Shakespeare Company).
Nicolas Kent is Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre where his work includes The Great Game: Afghanistan (as co-director), The Great White Hope (also staged for the Royal Shakespeare Company), Trouble in Mind, Wine in the Wilderness, A Love Song for Ulster, Macbeth, 10 Rounds, the 20th Anniversary production of Mustapha Matura’s Playboy of the West Indies, Walk Hard – Talk Loud, How Long Is Never?, Darfur A Response and The War Next Door.
He also directed all the Tricycle Tribunal Plays and 2007’s controversial Called To Account in which Tony Blair was put on trial for crimes of aggression against Iraq.
Frank McGuinness‘ many plays include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Gates of Gold, The Bread Man, Innocence, Dolly West’s Kitchen, The Bird Sanctuary, Carthaginians, Sleeping Like Magpies and There Came A Gypsy Riding. He has also translated many works, including The Storm, Phaedra, Hecuba, Peer Gynt, A Doll’s House, Electra, Hedda Gabler, Three Sisters and Yerma. And his film and TV credits include Dancing at Lughnasa, Henhouse and Scout.
Greta Garbo Came To Donegal is designed by Robert Jones, with lighting by Matthew Eagland and sound by Tom Lishman.
The Not Black and White season continues at the Tricycle Theatre until December 19, 2009.
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