Enchanted April

Written by Matthew Barber
Directed by Karen Carleton
Performed in Airfield Gardens, Dundrum, Dublin: April 2005

It's April in Italy, and anything can happen...even love.

This slow-paced gem is about the civilising influence of Italy on beleaguered Londoners both male and female and has it's own civilising influence on the viewer.

When four women rent a chateau on a remote Italian island around 1920 to try to come to grips with their lives and relationships, they explore the differences in their personalities, reassess their goals, and reexamine their relationships in a sisterly fashion.

Members of the cast on the set in Airfield House. (l to r) Mary Ryan, Jean Monahan, Muriel Caslin-O'Hagan and Deirdre Ward

Two versions of the programme for this production are available for downlaod as PDF files:

• For printing: (file used for printing the programme) 904KB
• For viewing on screen: (reduced quality pics & default font) 302KB

Note

In the programme for this production, Director Karen Carleton wrote "In 1921, Elizabeth Von Arnim’s best-selling novel, Enchanted April, dwelt on two women with one foot in the old kirche-kuche-kinder society. It also managed to focus on the broader unsettled feelings engendered by World War 1. It is the promise of an uplifting experience to erase the sadness and confusion in the wake of the war and major social changes that explains the story’s enduring appeal. Major social changes, not least in the Ireland of the early 21st century, make a little 'enchantment’ a necessary joy, a way in which we may keep in touch with the world and each other".

Sinead Donovan, Deirdre Ward and Claire O'Neill

Claire O'Neill and Sinead Donovan

Deirdre Ward

Deirdre Ward

Sinead Donovan & Geoffrey O'Keeffe