Notes

The play is set in Donegal, Ireland, 1997

Blind since infancy, Molly Sweeney lives a richly satisfying life in darkness. Her husband (Frank), an unemployed champion of good causes, convinces her to undergo an operation to restore her sight. With the aid of a once-famous eye surgeon (Rice) seeking to redeem his reputation, Molly reaches for the chance to experience the world as others see it. But is the world of light reward enough for giving up the world she has created for herself? Suffused with the rich tradition of Irish story-telling, this drama weaves three voices into a tapestry of the real and the imagined.

--Indiana Rep

This play, although set in present day, has a timeless quality that floats us down a verbal road-the discovery of these characters' personalities. It is an moorless and dreamlike world. Presented with such beautiful language and wondrous story-telling, my challenge was to not overwhelm the play with visual elements, but instead give it the freedom to breath-a space the use your imagination similar to the mind when reading a book. Our land and sky, as if contained in a box, spill out onto the stage. Ireland, and Donegal in particular, is an isolated place and one of melancholy beauty. It is not a bustling area, but a safe home where Molly has learned to live, almost easily, without her sight. It is a place for Rice to retreat from life's wounds; a place for Frank's peculiarities to not be challenged. Yet even in this haven the characters have the sense of restlessness inherent in the ever-changing sky.

--Karen TenEyck

When the lights go up, we discover the three characters--MOLLY SWEENEY, MR. RICE, FRANK SWEENEY--on stage. All three stay on stage for the entire play. I suggest that each character inhabits his or her own special acting area. Molly and Frank are in their late thirties/early forties. Mr. Rice is older. Most people with impaired vision look and behave like fully sighted people. Their only evidence of their disability is usually a certain vacancy in the eyes or the way the head is held. Molly should indicate her disability in some such subtle way. No canes, no groping, no dark glasses, etc......

--Brian Friel