Critically Acclaimed Irish Dramatist Brings Foley To Charlottesville

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
April 2, 2003

Charlottesville, VA – Renowned actor Andrew Bennett of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin will perform the one-man play Foley on Friday, May 9th at 8:15pm and Saturday, May 10th at 8:00pm at the University of Virginia’s Culbreth Theatre.
Bennett, the narrator of the film Angela’s Ashes, was nominated Best Actor for his performance as Foley at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2001). The (Irish) Sunday Tribune named Foley, written by Michael West and directed by Annie Ryan, Best Play of 2000. This special two-night showing of Foley will be followed by a panel discussion with Bennett, West, Ryan, and promoter Richard Wakely.

Foley made its American debut at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York last month following enthusiastically received tours in both Ireland and England. It comes to Charlottesville as one of the cultural highlights of the Re-Imagining Ireland conference sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, May 7-10.

Foley recounts the philosophical journey of a man who has deliberately exiled himself from his Anglo-Irish family and inadvertently isolated himself from the Catholic community through a failed marriage. Caustic and irreverent, Foley’s depictions of his family are hilarious. The dark comedy is lightened by Foley’s pensive philosophy and flights of spirituality.

The Washington Post has called Foley “a splendidly crafted act of self-consciousness … an exquisite piece of writing.” Marilyn Stasio of Variety says “West’s gorgeous drama is at once a penetrating character study of a man trying to escape his past and a bitter indictment of a social class that has no regard for its future.” Thelma Goode of Edinburgh.com promises, “Foley will transport you.”
Tickets for Foley are $20.00 and are available online at www.re-imagining-ireland.org.

For a mail-in order form or additional information call (434)-924-9721.