About the play:
A Rose Upon the Blood is a play written, directed and produced by a woman, focusing on women. Grace Gifford, a political cartoonist, and Joseph Plunkett, Artistic Director of a theatre company were in love; love that was obliterated by the Easter Rising of 1916. Joseph surrendered following a six-day rebellion that changed Ireland’s history, and was imprisoned in Kilmainham with the rest of the leaders. This is where their romantic story, becomes a tragedy. Hours before his execution, they were allowed to marry in the prison’s chapel, and after one last visit in the middle of the night, the bride became a widow. Several days later, in ‘The Irish Times’, Joseph’s name appeared twice on the same page; once in the marriage column, and again in the obituaries.
During the Civil War in 1923, Grace was imprisoned in Kilmainham, as a dissident for her political cartooning. This is where she meets the feisty - lay your cards on the table, Rosie. Sharing their stories of The Rising, we get the women’s perspective on this historical period, which usually focuses on the men. Rosie deftly steers the conversation to the lover's last ten minutes. Brought to Joseph’s cell in the middle of the night, fourteen guards were squeezed into that cell with them, and the Sergeant who informed the couple they had ten minutes, clicked the stopwatch, and cautioned them not to touch each other. Imagine how Grace must have felt. What could she have said? What did they say? What did the audience say?
The playwright's background is Irish. After a tour of Kilmainham Prison on a trip to Ireland two years ago, the story of Grace and Joseph haunted her. When she found out what happened in those last ten minutes, she knew the story had to be told.
About the playwright and cast:
Paddy Gillard-Bentley: (Playwright/Director/Producer) Founder and Artistic Director of Flush Ink Productions, Kitchener, Ontario. Chair of The Coalition of Performing Artists and past President of The International Centre for Women Playwrights. Paddy has been involved in theatre her entire life. As a playwright, she's had more than 70 productions of her plays in Canada, USA, UK, Australia and Ireland. Most produced plays include; Shaking the Dew from the Lilies, Bingo Wings, Quantum Entanglement, Howard and the Snake and Well Bread. Bread. She's directed more than 100 plays, and produced over thirty events of Asphalt Jungle Shorts, She Speaks and UnHinged Festival of Disturbing Theatre.
Jewels Krauss: (Grace Gifford Plunkett) An actor and director based in Toronto, Ontario. She was born and
raised in Stuttgart, Germany before she immigrated to Canada six years ago. Her
training includes a dramaturgy internship at the Schauspielhaus in Stuttgart,
Germany under Hasko Weber. She's had the privilege of taking workshops and intensives with Push Physical Theatre (New
York); Ghost River Theatre (Alberta); Theatre Gargantua (Toronto); Nightwood
Theatre (Toronto); Intro to Clown (Adam Lazarus); and studying the Art of Being
Present under Laurence Follows from 2012-2014. She has worked with, MT Space, Flush Ink Productions, Tottering Biped Theatre & Theatre TOnight.
Rosemary Doyle: (Rosie O'Leary) Founding Artistic Director of The Red Sandcastle Theatre in Toronto. She has been an actor, since the tender age of 8. Rosemary prefers to think of herself as a Theatre Person, because she acts, directs, writes plays, hangs lights and builds sets or costumes on regular basis. Rosemary’s family are from Baltinglass Co. Wicklow, and as a child she spent every summer in Rathbran, near Grange Con. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC and is the mother of two teenaged boys.
Katharine Mills: (Costumes/Stage Manager/Design) Kat has worked with Flush Ink Productions, Lost and Found Theatre, What'sInThere? Productions and Galt Little Theatre and JMDA Productions as both a performer, and in production. Various workshops include: Clown & Bouffon: John Turner, Karen Hines, Adam Lazarus, Movement, improvisation & dance: Natsu Nakajima, Tanya Williams, Pam Johnson, Elske Seidel, Martin Keogh and Classical voice: Laura Pudwell, André Clouthier. She works in graphic design with the City of Waterloo. Katharine is also a playwright, novelist and visual artist.
We will be casting three smaller roles in Ireland, and are so excited at the prospect of working with Irish Artists.
Our tour:
Just in time for The Easter Rising Centenary in Ireland, we are excited to bring this play, celebrating women's voices in theatre. We will be performing at The Harbour in Bray – May 4 & 5 (the 4th is the actual 100 year anniversary of Joseph Plunkett’s execution). In Cork City, we will be performing at The Cork Arts Theater, May 12, 13, 14th. Then we take the ferry to Bere Island, where we will perform at The Bere Island Heritage Centre for two nights. We are still working on two days in the North, and will keep you updated. Once back home, we will produce the show both in Kitchener and Toronto. We are so thrilled to be bringing this women-driven production to Ireland, and back again, and you can help us get there!
Budget:
We have several things going on get us there. The budget for the entire project, both Ireland and Canada is just over $35,000.00. We have applied for three different grants (two governmental, one municipal). For this Indiegogo campaign, we are hoping to raise $6,042 to help us cover travel costs to get there and back, as well as pay for lodging and travel while in Ireland, and most importantly - paying the Artists - both Canadian and Irish. Many of the costs will be offset by revenue. We believe in people coming together to make things happen. We believe in our audiences, both near and far. We believe in A Rose Upon the Blood.
Any small amount will make a difference.
Here is what some people said about the play:
Using a 10-minute silence in real time onstage shows a playwright who is not afraid to take creative risks. I have only seen this device used once at Canada’s Shaw festival, where a fie-minute silence was used for a Brecht play. In Paddy’s play, this silence works beautifully, becoming a character in itself.
~ Coral Andrews (Independent Media Professional)
The nuance of movement, expression and emotional tension underpinned the entire telling of the story within the cells of Kilmainham Gaol. Paddy has created a written work that transports the audience.
~ Helen Basson (Stratford Festival Canada)
A Rose Upon the Blood is unforgettable theatre. I will forever keep with me the feeling of being an observer in that jail cell. It was so moving for us in Canada, many without Irish roots.
~ Kathie Must
A Rose Upon the Blood was a deeply moving piece about The Easter Rising, showing us how much can be said without words. I feel that this being the 100th anniversary of this event makes this the perfect time to bring this fantastic piece of theatre to Ireland.
~ Colleen Matthews Daley
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In Ireland, novels and plays still have a strange force. The writing of fiction and the creation of theatrical images can affect life there more powerfully and stealthily than speeches, or even legislation. Imagined worlds can lodge deeply in the private sphere, dislodging much else, especially when the public sphere is fragile.
~ Colm Toibin
