The Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company Presents:
THE FIELD
By John B. Keane
&
30 YEARS: BSB IN IRELAND
2-Night Event
Brigit Saint Brigit (BSB) marks its 30th anniversary celebration of Irish culture with a full length run of
John B. Keane’s gripping and controversial play The Field, and a special Two Nights Only
retrospective 30 Years: BSB in Ireland.
The Field is an uncompromising tale that contrasts the excruciating tenderness felt by the ferocious
Bull McCabe for a field that has nurtured his family for generations, with the calculated brutality he’s
willing to wield against anyone he sees as–justly or not–threatening “his” land.
“. . . the primitive feeling of these people . . . is that a man will not do wrong unless he is under the influence of a
passion which is as irresponsible as a storm of the sea.” ~ J. M. Synge
30 Years: BSB in Ireland is a special look at BSB’s three decades of outstanding Irish theatre in
Omaha. Irish playwrights and stories have been a cornerstone of BSB since its beginning in 1993 (that
inaugural season offering the unforgettable Omaha debut of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa). BSB
continues its 30th anniversary celebration Two Nights Only with live performances from reunited casts,
conversations with artists, video retrospectives and more! Featuring: Kevin Barratt, Tom Becker, Laura
Campbell, Terry Doughman, Jeremy Earl, Eric Grant-Leanna, Eric Griffith, Carol Knoepfler, David Mainelli, Eric
Salonis, Charleen Willoughby, Scott Working, Murphy Wulfgar, and Aaron Zavitz.
BSB’s affinity for Irish storytellers springs from their passionate love of language as a life force–vibrant, real, a
living thing. Experience and words are barely separated, and this is uniquely vivid onstage.”
~ Cathy M. Kurz, BSB Artistic Director
WHERE: First Central Congregational Church
421 S 36th Street, Omaha, NE 68131
WHEN: The Field
February 17- March 5
(Fri./Sat. @ 7:30 PM, Sundays @ 2:00 PM)
30 YEARS: BSB IN IRELAND
Thursdays 2/23 & 3/2 @ 7:30 PM
COST: $35 General Admission, $30 Student/65+/Military
WEBSITE: www.bsbtheatre.com
EVENT URL: https://www.bsbtheatre.com/thefield or https://www.bsbtheatre.com/30years
The Field cast
BSB’s production of The Field is directed by Cathy Kurz, stage managed by Sabrina Kinney, with a cast led by
Kevin Barrett, supported by Shane Staiger, Eric Griffith, Scott Working, Jessica Johnson, Austin Wright,
Charleen Willoughby, Dennis Stessman, Michael Lyon, Brent Spencer, Steve Miller, and Ryan Federico.
THE STORY
t’s 1965 in County Kerry, so the threat comes not from an outside invader, but from another villager, the
widow Butler who owns the few fertile acres and needs to sell to survive. Its passage to the river makes it
indispensable. Thady ‘Bull’ McCabe needs that field. But he can’t afford to pay the asking price which is what
it’s worth.
Yet that field, he knows in his bones, is his. His family’s blood and sweat and tending have made it his. With
ferocity and a dangerous reputation, he forces a rigged auction in which he will be the only bidder. But then,
enter an outsider. William Dee is a man who can afford to pay the higher price, an Irish expat, happy to live in
Britain, and one who believes in the primacy of the law, contracts, and the authorities that will protect him.
He doesn’t realize he’s entered a world not of man-made law but of passion and elemental force
The explosive intrigue, violence, investigation, and clerical condemnation that follow roil the small-town
community: each person struggles in a net of guilt, denial, and self-preservation. Keane’s is a plot and
examination of character that rivets.
Yet slightly beneath the playwright’s acute depiction of the events and reactions of specific characters in a
specific place and time runs a haunting undertone that’s without time or place. How much do the facts win out
over our comfort in being a member of the tribe? How do we recognize the ages-old, whispered myths that so
infuse and color our judgement? And how can we know which ones have value?
In Bull McCabe, John B. has cunningly created a character whose selfishness and brutality repel, while his
passion and tenderness for the land draw us in. Such human contradiction is the stuff of the play’s essential
power.
Chris' Corner 