The Irish Wake, a play by Liz Dembrowsky, Astorian

Astoria resident, Liz Dembrowsky, is having her play, The (Irish) Wake: A Play in Two Acts, Three Times produced at the Beckman Theatre in Manhattan (314 West 54th Street, 2nd floor) this weekend.

The piece focuses on the 5 minutes before and the 5 minutes after the wake of Katherine and viewers are invited to listen to the inner monologues of those closest to her, Mara-the best friend, Andrew-the boyfriend and Elizabeth-the younger sister, as they deal with her death. I very much like the way Liz describes her work, so rather than paraphrase her, I will quote her directly, “It tells the story of how a premature death of a young woman affects those closest to her and unearths the feelings of ambivalence that some of the characters hold. As the story unfolds, things become more complicated as it is revealed that, along with sadness, some characters feel a sense of relief at the death of this very complicated young woman…And, finally, it looks at how the same event can mean very different things for those living through it.”


I’m really intrigued by the plot and the way she has set up the progression, using the thoughts of three different characters to move it along.
This is actually Act 2, as Act 1 went up in January (which I very much unfortunately missed). Act 1 was accepted for production in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival. The full play will be produced in early June.
The play runs from April 7th -9th (April 7th @ 8PM, April 8th @ 2PM 9PM, April 9th @ 3PM).
Ttickets can be purchased in advance by calling 212.769.7973 #2. Cost $15. Knowing that you are supporting someone from the ‘hood, priceless.