230 West Fourth Street

Fort Worth, TX 76102

 

CIRCLE THEATRE PRESENTS

SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME

For immediate release                                                                                                  Contact: Rose Pearson 

Phone: (817) 877-3040                                                                                                    URL: circletheatre.com

Fax: (817) 877- 3536 Email:                                                                                          plays@circletheatre.com

Fort Worth, Texas – Circle Theatre opens Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me - with 7:30pm previews October 24th  and 25th .  Opening night, featuring post-show champagne, is scheduled for 7:30pm, Friday, October 26th.  (There will not be a Saturday matinee on October 25th .)  The play runs through November 17th.  For tickets or information, call 817-877-3040 (1:00pm – 5:00pm, Tuesday – Friday).  Regular performance times are: Thursday & Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 4:00pm and 8:30pm. 

Wednesday’s Preview Performance is the Live Theatre League’s Play Date of the Month. Proceeds from that preview will benefit the promotion of live theatre in Fort Worth & Tarrant County.  Circle Theatre plans to donate Thursday’s Preview proceeds to the New York Police and Fire Widows and Children’s Benefit Fund.

Preview tickets are $10 each.  Opening night tickets (including champagne post-show) are $30.  All regular performances are $15 -$20 (Thursday  & Saturday matinee); & $20 - $25 (Friday & Saturday night).  Half price student rush tickets are available at half hour on a standby basis.  The Theatre also accepts Bell Helicopter coupons and Tandy Vouchers.

In light of recent tragic events, Circle’s Executive Director, Rose Pearson, chose to postpone the Theatre’s originally scheduled showing of Desperate Affection and replace it with Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, an inspiring play (based on a true story) by Frank McGuiness.

“We admire playwright, Bruce Graham and had hoped to present his play, Desperate Affection, here this fall,” says Ms. Pearson.  “However, since Desperate Affection’s plot revolves around an attempted presidential assassination that takes place in New York, we felt this was not an appropriate time to produce this particular piece.  I emailed the playwright and told him that regretfully we were canceling our plans to produce his work.  He wrote back that he guessed we would make that choice and he thought it was a smart idea.

Circle Theatre prides itself in presenting contemporary plays that deal with what’s happening in today’s world and we did not want to shy away from facing reality.  So, we elected to present Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, a play about three hostages - one Irish, one American; and one Englishman who are locked together in a cell in the Middle East.

While the subject is serious, the message is clearly inspirational.  Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me celebrates man’s ability to bond together as brothers, to have pride in their country and to rise above previously unknown adversities.  We hope to succeed in bringing hope to our audiences’ hearts, as well as tears to their eyes.”

Circle’s production of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me is guest-directed by Kerry Cole.  Ms. Cole previously directed Jake’s Women, All In The Timing and The Turn of the Screw for Circle Theatre.  Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me will feature actors Matthew Tompkins (Adam) *courtesy of Actors’ Equity; Jack Foltyn (Edward), and Kevin Keating (Michael) *courtesy of Actors’ Equity.

The Play

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me is based on a true story chronicled in the book “An Evil Cradling” by Irish hostage survivor Brian Keenan, and presented in the movie “Hostages” (screenplay by Frank McGuinness). It opened at the Hampstead Theatre on July 10, 1992.  The play was directed by Robin Lefevre. The cast was as follows:  Michael– Alec McCowen; Adam- Hugh Quarshie; Edward-Stephen Rea.

The Playwright

Frank McGuinness was born in 1953 in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland, just across the border from Derry city,

Northern Ireland. He grew up in a predominately Catholic Nationalist tradition. McGuinness was educated at University

College Dublin where he studied medieval literature and mythology. McGuinness taught at several universities after

graduating. He began his writing career in poetry; he started writing plays in the early 1980s. His dramatic works include:

The Factory Girls (1982), Baglady (1985), Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (1985), Innocence

(1986), Carthaginians (1988), Mary and Lizzie (1989), The Bread Man (1991), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (1992),

The Bird Sanctuary (1994), Mutabilitie (1997), and Dolly West's Kitchen (1999).       –more-

He has translated a number of classic dramas, including Ibsen's Rosmersholm (1987), Peer Gynt (1988), Hedda Gabler

(1994) and A Doll's House (1997); Chekhov's Three Sisters (1990) and Uncle Vanya (1995); Lorca's Yerma (1987);

Brecht's The Three Penny Opera (1987) and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1997); Sophocles' Electra and Ostrovsky's The

Storm. McGuinness has also done work for film and television including: Scout, Henhouse, and Dancing at Lughnasa.

McGuinness collaborated with Marianne Faithfull on lyrics for her album A Secret Life. A collection of his poetry,

Booterstown, is published by Gallery Press.

 

McGuinness's play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me attained acclaim in both London and New York, winning the

Independent on Sunday Play of the Year Award, the New York Critics' Circle Award and the Writer's Guild Award for

Best Play. It was also nominated for an Olivier Award and a Tony Award. McGuinness currently lives in Dublin where he

lectures in English at University College.

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me is rated PG.  Pictures are available upon request.

 

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