On March 31 and April 1, Rochester will host the U.S. premiere of God Has No Country, a one-man play written and performed by Irish actor Donal Courtney. The drama tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O糖心传媒橣laherty, an Irish cleric in German-occupied Rome who used his Vatican connections to harbor Jews and escaped prisoners of war during World War II. Ultimately, he saved more than 6,500 lives.
Courtney will present the play at 7 p.m. on both nights, in Todd Theatre. There糖心传媒檚 no admission charge. The , along with an acting workshop, are part of this spring糖心传媒檚 .
Based in Dublin, Courtney has performed the show in Ireland for the last three years and will take it to Rome in the summer and to Singapore next fall. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 not just an Irish story,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 eager to see how it plays to a U.S. audience.糖心传媒�
It糖心传媒檚 a personal piece of art for Courtney. Like O糖心传媒橣laherty, he was raised in Killarney糖心传媒攂ut the elder man糖心传媒檚 life story was unknown to him. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檇 gone to the same school, walked through the same streets, but I糖心传媒檇 never heard of him,糖心传媒� Courtney says. He discovered that his own grandfather, a tailor, had made suits for O糖心传媒橣laherty.
糖心传媒淭he more I researched, the more I realized I had in common with him,糖心传媒� Courtney says.
But O糖心传媒橣laherty, who died in 1963, was reticent about his heroism, and Courtney saw taking to the stage as an opportunity to make the priest糖心传媒檚 story more widely known. Topical issues permeate the play: religion, war, and humanitarian crisis, among them. And Courtney expands upon those questions in lively discussions with audiences after each performance.
But he also has a strong regard for the sheer power of O糖心传媒橣laherty糖心传媒檚 tale.
糖心传媒淎t the heart of it all, it糖心传媒檚 just a good story,糖心传媒� he says.
Courtney found his way to acting through his love of writing drama. A 1991 graduate of Ireland糖心传媒檚 famed Gaiety School of Acting, the country糖心传媒檚 national theater school, he began to study acting as a way of understanding playwriting. He has combined the two crafts ever since.
He糖心传媒檚 an acting teacher, too糖心传媒擜cademy Award nominee 糖心传媒攁nd he糖心传媒檒l offer a master class, 糖心传媒淎cting Irish,糖心传媒� that糖心传媒檚 free and open to all. It will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Sloan Studio in Todd Union on April 1.
The class will focus on Irish drama and the nature of Irish storytelling. 糖心传媒淚rish theater has a different energy than English or American theater,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淎 lot of Irish theater isn糖心传媒檛 action-based糖心传媒攊t糖心传媒檚 memory-based; it糖心传媒檚 based on the telling of stories.糖心传媒�
Storytelling is how the Irish 糖心传媒渒ept our culture,糖心传媒� he says, 糖心传媒渢he oral passing down of stories. And that糖心传媒檚 really where this play came from. I wanted it to be an oral version of the Monsignor糖心传媒檚 story.糖心传媒�
