Under The Hawthorn Tree: A Musical Based on the Irish Famine
VANCOUVER - The story is one of hope and courage in the face of tragedy. It is the journey of three brave children as they travel through Ireland during the Great Potato Famine, in search of long-lost relatives they knew only from their mother's stories.
The play weaves a tapestry of historical happenings, from infant mortality to export riots and infectious disease, a blight that laid waste to the country and forever shaped its future.
Marita Conlon-McKenna is one of Ireland's most popular children's authors. She has written nine bestselling children's books. Under The Hawthorn Tree, her first novel, became an immediate bestseller and has been described as 'the biggest success story in children's historical fiction'.
It has been reprinted numerous times since its first publication in 1990, and has reached a worldwide market through translations and foreign editions. Its sequels, Wildflower Girl and Fields Of Home, which complete the Children Of The Famine trilogy, have also been hugely successful.
Mary Murphy Demers, singer-songwriter and Irish harpist, came across a copy of Under The Hawthorn Tree. Mary read it and passed it on to budding playwright Mary Clark, and together they realized that it had all the workings of a great musical.
After completing a script and a score of Irish-influenced melodies, Clark and Murphy Demers sent their work to the O'Brien Press in Dublin, publisher of the original novel. Moved by the music, O'Brien Press and Conlon-McKenna, with a special arrangement, gave their blessing to the creation and production of this new musical.
The play will be staged in Vancouver this March 11 to 14 and 17 to 21. The cast consists of 13 local Vancouver actors aged from 11 to 73. Mary Clark directs the production and Mary Murphy Demers is the musical director.
The show will be presented at the Havana Theatre, 1212 Commercial Drive. Shows are at 8 PM with additional matinees at 2 PM on March 14 and 21. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students. Special two for one preview night on March 11.
For further information, visit the Facebook page: Under The Hawthorn Tree: A New Musical. Tickets can be reserved by calling (778) 837-3645 or e-mailing hawthorntickets@gmail.com.
For more information about Marita Conlon-McKenna's novel Under The Hawthorn Tree and her other children's novels visit: www.obrien.ie.
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