The Cuchulain Cycle:A Heroic Theatrical Enterprise

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• published: 28 Apr 2015
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Presented on April 7, 1989 Keith Scales, supervising director, Dramaturg; Vana O'Brien, award-winning acress, Storefront Board of Directors; Michael Redden, attorney and president, Storefront Board of Directors "On the evening of April 8, The Cuchulain Cycle will begin its three week run at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Storefront Theatre's ambitious production brings to life the five-part saga which W.B. Yeats created between 1904 and 1939. Fashioning his heritage of Celtic myths and legends and Irish history together with his own dreams and creative vision, Yeats produced a compelling dramatic presentation of the heroic personality. Portland theatre audiences will be the first outside New York City to experience the Cycle in full professional production. For this undertaking, Storefront Theatre has assembled some of the finest talents in the region, headed by Scales, an expert on Yeats' writings and a highly regarded actor. Each of the five parts of the Cycle will be guided by a different director in a different cultural style, ranging from Japanese Butoh to Marvel Comics and promising to stimulate all the aesthetic nerves. Our program today features some of the leading figures in this theatrical project. Redden will speak about the organizational efforts which brought Cuchulain to Portland. O'Brien will present Yeats' place as a dramatist, telling about the development of the Cycle. Scales will discuss the week-long symposium at PSU, which was organized to coincide with the play's presentation. And O'Brien, in the cast as Cuchulain's wife, will be joined by Ted Roisum and Fritz Congdon in a scene from the play. "