OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Joseph O'Connor (1) 

• Setting

  A ship approaching Dublin Bay, 1742.

• Synopsis

  The action takes place aboard a ship carrying an ageing and maudlin George Frederick Handel to Dublin for the premiere of the Messiah. As the performance in Fishamble Street looms, the composer is increasingly riddled with fear and self-doubt. His two servants, meanwhile, have personal issues of their own to face.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

• Cast Size Male

  3

• Cast Size Female

  2

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  16 April 2009

• Producer

  Produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company

• Original Venue

  
  

• Venue Notes

  Site-specific. Staged aboard the Jeannie Johnston famine replica ship docked at Custom House Quay, Dublin.

• Irish Premiere Notes

  Site-specific performance commissioned by Fishamble in collaboration with RTÉ Lyric FM as part of the 2009 Dublin Handel Festival. Originally broadcast as "The Crossing: Handel's Messiah" on Lyric FM in 2003.

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the original production programme.