By Patricia Jameson-Sammartano

WG Culture Editor

(This review was first produced in 2007, when Pat Jameson served as our culture editor. She died in April 2012.)

Setting: A shabby two-story house, in a suburb north of Dublin, on Christmas Eve. We had originally thought that a play about five drunken…

This is the first act of the new ceoldrama "The Last Torch," which we produced as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival in October 2014. We accomplished this in six weeks, with the intention of seeing what needed to be changed, fixed, etc. It was such a difficult process that I…

When the actor Arthur Shields strode towards the Abbey Theatre on Easter Monday, 1916, it was with one intent -- not to rehearse or act in a play, but to collect his rifle and take part in the greater drama that was about to shake the streets of Dublin.

Pictured, Arthur Shields

Once…

The Last Torch is set in 16th century Ireland, where survivors of a shipwreck from the…

The following Q&A with County Clare-born actor Kirby Simone (Oonagh) in Sixteen Films' biopic "Jimmy's Hall") is part of the studio's Production Notes for the film, shot in the story's actual locales in County Leitrim. The notes,…

George Michael Cohan was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer. Assumed by many to be Jewish because of his last name, which was really Keohane! Known in the decade before World…

It's the stuff great films and spellbinding stage performances are made of.  In the case of "The Last Torch," though, the story is plucked right from the history books.  To be more specific, in this case, the story is taken from the personal journey of 16th century…

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (1888 – 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. Born in a Broadway hotel room in Longacre Square (now Times Square), in the Barrett Hotel. He was the son of Irish immigrant actor James O'Neill, Rosbercon, County…

The Alt

A unique blend of traditional Irish, Scottish, English & Americana music

Exciting new musical…

It was a very exciting weekend auditioning for "The Last Torch." Both tiring and exhilarating. Casting has been a very tough job, but we have our cast -- all except Brian O'Rourke, but he will appear!

BUAGH!…

“The Last Torch” is an exciting new Irish ceoldrama being premiered in Melbourne, Australia October 1st - 4th, 2014 at the Malthouse Theatre, Southbank. It will be part of this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival. Auditions will be held in July. Please email Frances O’Neill to…

Left to Right: Paul Gleeson, Ard-Chonsal na hÉireann (Consul General of Ireland), Wild Geese member Annya Bright with the Oscar (Wilde) for Best Supporting Role, and John Countryman (Festival…

John Millington Synge was one the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival towards the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.

Like Lady Gregory, Synge was also a dramatist portraying the Irish on stage as a means of reviving interest in Irish heritage and…

The Kate Mullany National Historic Site is producing a new musical about Troy, New York, labor pioneer Kate Mullany. Don't Iron While the Strike is Hot! will premiere at Russell Sage College in Troy on May 14 and 15 with both matinees and evening…

I've been working on the promotion of "Brendan at the Chelsea" sent to Off Broadway by Belfast's Lyric Theatre, starring Adrian Dunbar as the notorious Dublin writer Brendan Behan when he lived at the equally notorious Chelsea Hotel in New York in 1963.

It's been a great project working…