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American Players Theatre
5950 Golf Course Road
P.O. Box 819
Spring Green, WI 53588
(Map)

Box Office: 608-588-2361
Administration: 608-588-7401
Fax: 608-588-7085

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Molly Sweeney

Molly Sweeney

By Brian Friel

Directed by
Kenneth Albers
Touchstone
  • Summary
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In Molly Sweeney, thrilling Irish playwright Brian Friel has created a story moving and unforgettable, offering just the kind of magnified, cathartic experience that makes the Touchstone Theatre so vital.

Molly is a new bride – happy, content. And blind. And now, she has a chance to see.

For Molly’s husband, restoring her sight is his latest cheerful obsession. For her surgeon, a shot at redemption. And for Molly? A dream come true. Right? But with the prize nearly within their grasp, none of them think to question the consequences of grasping it.

Molly Sweeney and the language that spins her story – simple, raw and beautiful – will stay with you long after the stage has gone dark. Though you may find the question, “what have you got to lose” hard to shake, as well.

Cast

Molly
Colleen Madden *
Frank
David Daniel
Mr. Rice
Jonathan Smoots *

Staff

Dialect Coach
Christine Adaire
Costume & Scenic Design
Liz Freese
Lighting Design
Noele Stollmack †
Sound Design & Original Music
John Tanner
Stage Manager
Erin Albrecht *
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
** Member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an Independent Labor Union
† Member of United Scenic Artists

Molly Sweeney at American Players Theatre: From gentle darkness, a voyage to rough light
By Lawrence B. Johnson, Chicagoontheaisle.com, August 6, 2013

APT review: Molly Sweeney a treat for APT regulars
By William R. Wineke, Channel3000.com, August 4, 2013.

Review: APT's 'Molly Sweeney'
By Aaron Conklin, Madison Magazine, August 5, 2013.

Regaining her sight
By Michael Muckian, ExpressMilwaukee.com, June 26, 2013

Colleen Madden illuminates APT's 'Molly Sweeney'
By Lindsay Christians, 77 Square, June 17, 2013.

American Players Theatre shows what's lost when a blind woman gains sight
By Laura Jones, The Isthmus, June 16, 2013.

APT's 'Verona' a tale of growing pains / The insight of 'Molly Sweeney'
By Mike Fischer, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 17, 2013

Director's Notes

“Learning to see is not like learning a new language. It’s like learning language for the first time.”
     —Denis Diderot

“Restoring the optic nerve is the least challenging aspect of learning how to see, especially in a world that worships speed and spectacle.”
     —Neurologist Oliver Sacks

"The truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind.”
     —Emily Dickinson

“Hello darkness, my old friend; I’ve come to talk with you again.”
     —Paul Simon

At bottom line, this brilliant play from one of the world’s most extraordinary and prolific playwrights is a “Rashoman” story that offers different interpretations of the same event depending upon the story-teller, and reminds us of that old premonition, “Be careful what you wish for.”

—Kenneth Albers

Molly Sweeney Molly Sweeney Molly Sweeney Molly Sweeney Molly Sweeney
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