Past Productions
The Mai
“That house of proud mad women!” The events of two summers, the conversations and stories of seven women, the history of a family and their broken and cruel love is remembered, recounted and re-lived by The Mai's eldest daughter, Millie, who fuses past and present, history and lore, into a story as intimate, unique, disturbing, affectionate and recognizable as all family stories. Sacramento, California, February 23 - March 25, 2007 – California Stage presents “The Mai” by Marina Carr (By the Bog of Cats) in the SPACE Theatre at 25th & R Streets. Fridays and Saturdays 8 pm, Sundays 2 pm. The Mai is an accomplished, beautiful forty-year-old woman who has always sought an exceptional life. After seventeen years of marriage, Robert, her cellist husband leaves her, whereupon she sets about building a dream house in the hope that he will one day return to her. The Mai waits by the window for her prince to return. Set in the inspiring surrounds of the West of Ireland, on the banks of the legendary Owl Lake, we enter this world on the day of Robert's return after an absence of four years. In the midst of The Mai and Robert's troubled reunion are the idiosyncratic characters that comprise the family. Irreverent and unapologetic, the opium-smoking one-hundred-year-old matriarch, Grandma Fraochán, presides over all. The "Spanish Beauty," as she is known, with her "ancient and fantastical memory" and mythical presence, reminds us that the past is looming ever present. Her daughters, Agnes and Julie, meddle in the affairs of their three nieces. “The Mai” is an epic tale where Marina Carr traces the legacy of yearning, disillusionment and mourning that is passed on, almost genetically, it would seem, through four generations of love and loss and elusive dreams shattered by a vulgar but inescapable reality. California Stage director Penny Meagher will stage the work with local veteran actors Carissa Meagher, Gay Cooper, Michele Koehler, Rita L. Brandes and Kate Gough. Bonnie Antonini will star as The Mai and Mark Hoffman, will play the cello live on stage as The Mai’s husband, Robert. SPECIAL NOTE: Shirley O’Key, an actress and producer in Sacramento since the 1950s, will return to the stage after a 15 year absence to play the 100 year-old Grandma Fraochlán. Shirley will turn 87 during the run of the play. “The Mai” an Irish Drama by Marina Carr Where: 25th & R Streets, Sacramento For additional information:
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