‘Foley’ to be performed and discussed

The Irish play “Foley” comes to the Culbreth stage for two nights, May 9 and 10 as one of the cultural highlights of the “Re-Imagining Ireland” conference (see page 12).

Andrew Bennett of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin plays Foley, a man who has deliberately exiled himself from his Anglo-Irish family and inadvertently isolated himself from the Catholic community through a failed marriage. Bennett was nominated Best Actor for his performance at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001.

Written by Michael West and directed by Annie Ryan, “Foley” made its American debut at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York last month. West, Ryan, Bennett and promoter Richard Wakely will participate in a discussion of the play after each performance.

Co-sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the drama department and the Forum for Contemporary Thought, the play begins at 8:15 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.re-imagining-ireland.org. For a mail-in order form, call 924-9721.