When you produce a staged reading or low-budget production of a play, the often-quixotic hope is that an industry person will attend and offer the play new, exciting opportunities. This has actually occurred for “Boann and the Well of Wisdom,” my poetic two-character drama based on the myth of Boann, the Irish goddess of poetry and creator of the River Boyne.
Last year, “Boann and the Well of Wisdom” kicked off Saint Patrick’s month with a fundraising staged reading starring Annalisa Chamberlin and Matthew Hammond, followed by the music of Mary Courtney and Patrick Madden at Le Cheile pub in Washington Heights. Susanna Frazer, Artistic Director of Morningside Players Theatre Company, attended the fundraiser and invited “Boann and the Well of Wisdom” to join the African-American drama, “That Summer Evening in Milwaukee” by Carol Carter as part of a double bill called “Diverse Worlds.” This two-play program is the first production of its kind undertaken by the Morningside Players.
The Morningside Players staging marks the fourth production of “Boann and the Well of Wisdom” in New York City. In 2022, the play found success in Origin’s 1st Irish Theatre Festival, the New York Theatre Festival, and at An Beal Bocht Cafe. The Morningside production introduces an updated script, a new director, a new cast, and — at suggestion of Annalisa Chamberlin —live music by Mary Courtney.
Mary Courtney’s singing of original and traditional songs and her guitar and bodhran playing set the various moods at the start of the scenes and underscore the drama within them.
Mary Linehan brings a distinct vision and a wonderful collaborative approach to directing Kylie Logan as Boann and James Armstrong (appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association) as Nechtan. The updated script provides Nechtan with a couple of new weapons of manipulation as he seeks to stop his spirited daughter, Boann, from changing his traditional White Cow pub from what it has always been. The scenes between Boann and Nechtan now feature tighter dialog and give greater emphasis to the themes of the drama.
“Boann and the Well of Wisdom” will be performed as part of “Diverse Worlds at the Morningside Players Theatre at 100 Lasalle St. (lower level), one block south of 125th and Broadway on: Sept. 26-30, at 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 30 at 2 p.m., Oct. 1 at 3 p.m., and Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets, visit here.
