REVIEWS:
“One might think that one has seen it all and reached 1916 saturation point, but that is where The New Theatre’s McKenna’s Fort steps in.”
“Michael Bates… gives an impressive and assured performance… a part that allows him to show his considerable talents.”
Easter, 1916.
Statesman, humanitarian, and Irish Revolutionary Roger Casement has spent five days travelling to Ireland by submarine to bring arms to the rebels of the Easter Rising, and now hides out in the ancient rath of McKenna’s Fort in Kerry.
Exhausted and broken, his plans for a glorious revolution dashed by the inadequate help he has received from Germany, he now has a private mission in mind as he waits for rescue: to have the rebellion called off.
Disappointed and tortured by a sense of failure, he is haunted during the night by images of the horrors he has witnessed doing his humanitarian work in the Congo and the Amazon Basin.
As comfort, he conjures up memories of better times, and happier acquaintances, and in doing so he reveals a secret inner life which the world must never know of…
An unflinching look at the life of one of Ireland’s most controversial revolutionary figures, told in direct, unabashed, and at times poetic language, drawing on Casement’s own voice as found in his many diaries, letters, and official writings.
Directed by Paul Kennedy
Featuring Michael Bates as Roger Casement
Images: Ste Murray
