This November “My Left Foot” author Christy Brown’s archives will go on display as well as directors of the Little Museum, in Dublin’s, first play, Trevor White’s “Private View.”
A remarkable new play is coming to New York for three performances only. After its debut in the Dublin Theatre Festival, “The Private View” by Trevor White will be presented in the American Irish Historical Society on November 17th to the 20th.
The play tells the tale of John Lowe who accepted the surrender of Irish rebel leader Patrick Pearse at the end of Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. Trevor White sets out to celebrate Lowe, who went on to become a famous movie star (after changing his name to John Loder) and married five times (one of his wives was Hedy Lamarr, the Angelina Jolie of her generation).
But celebration can be harder than it sounds, as we soon discover in this provocative new monologue about Hollywood, heroism and history.
Directed by acclaimed novelist and director Gerard Stembridge, “The Private View” reflects on national identity through the prism of an amazing story that’s largely forgotten.
“This play explores the abuses of memory and the true meaning of heroism,” says Trevor White. “But it also questions what it means to be patriotic today.” White is the founder of The Dubliner magazine and Director of the Little Museum of Dublin. “The Private View” is his first play.
Also this November Christy Brown’s personal archive will be seen in the United States for the first time today, when the exhibition “Dear Christy: The Christy Brown Collection” opens in the American Irish Historical Society.
Christy Brown is remembered by many as the man played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the Oscar-winning film “My Left Foot.” But the complexities of his life, together with his struggle to be understood, have only recently come to light. Those complexities are explored in this remarkable new exhibition, which must end on November 24.
The collection includes many unique, previously unseen artefacts, including childhood mementos, unpublished poetry, nude sketches, a letter declaring Brown’s ambition to become an artist, his passport and a letter from the Booker Prizewinning author John Banville describing “Down All The Days” as “perhaps the best Irish novel since Ulysses.” Intimate, humorous and moving, the exhibition is a unique record of the life and work of this world-famous artist and writer.
“We are delighted to be bringing this collection to America,” says curator Simon O’Connor.
“It tells the story of a great Irish artist and writer who created paintings, a classic memoir, four novels and four collections of poetry – using only his left foot.”
In March 2014, the Little Museum of Dublin and the National Library of Ireland jointly purchased the Christy Brown archive for €44,733 at an auction in London.
The first time the Little Museum of Dublin has presented work in the United States, this exhibition is supported by The Ireland Funds, Aer Lingus, Tourism Ireland, the Irish Aviation Authority, Direct Medical and the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.
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