Next up in Mint Theater’s free on-demand Silver Lining Streaming Series – celebrating the award-winning Off-Broadway company’s silver anniversary and marking “twenty-five years of unearthing and preserving forgotten plays” – is the three-camera HD archival recording of its live on-stage 2013 production of Katie Roche by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy (1894-1963).
Directed by Artistic Director Jonathan Bank, the 1936 drama (originally produced in Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and revived there multiple times) was the third in the Mint’s multi-year Teresa Deevy Project and the first staging of it in New York since 1937, which succeeded in bringing deserved recognition to a long-overlooked female writer. The exploration of Deevy’s work resulted not only in the company’s presentation of four of her full-length plays, but also in staged readings of four short plays, and the publication of two volumes of her scripts.
According to Bank, “When I launched the Teresa Deevy Project back in 2010, I had a hunch it might be the most meaningful and satisfying work I could ever hope to do. Streaming Katie Roche in 2021 allows us to build on the four productions and two books that Mint has produced, as our airing coincides with Active Speech: Sharing Scholarship on Teresa Deevy, the first-ever international conference of Deevy scholars. Keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Christopher Morash of Trinity University, a good friend of the Mint and co-editor of our two Deevy volumes.”
The narrative follows the life journey and aspirations of the eponymous character, an illegitimate orphaned servant girl working in a household in Lower Ballycar to survive. Filled with great ambition and dreams, the spirited Katie, though romantically attracted to her young suitor Michael, accepts the marriage proposal of Stanislaus Gregg, the 20-year-older head of the house, as a means to avoid entering a convent to achieve respect and security. But will she be able to overcome her situation and enjoy a happier life?
Wrenn Schmidt (Julia Sagorsky in HBO’s Emmy-nominated series Boardwalk Empire) stars in the titular role, with Patrick Fitzgerald as Stan, Jon Fletcher as Michael, and a featured cast of Margaret Daly, David Friedlander, Jamie Jackson, John O’Creagh, and Fiana Toibin. The artistic team of Vicki R. Davis (set), Martha Hally (costumes), Nicole Pearce (lighting), Jane Shaw (sound), and Joshua Yocom (props), with Irish dialect coaching by Amy Stoller, creates an authentic period-style look and tone for this fully staged vintage production.
Katie Roche streams Monday, February 1-Sunday, March 28, at Mint Theater Company. Closed captioning is available. The price of admission is free, but registration is required for viewing. To receive a password, go online.
How can I find the length of a production?
It’s not always easy; when I get the running time, I generally include it. If you don’t see it, you can contact the company and ask (click on the link to the website), or pull up the show when it’s available and see the end time at the bottom right, at the end of the play line.