Selkie Theatre is pleased to announce the return of the Bo Leictreach GreenPlay Festival, a celebration of new 10 Minute green plays by Irish playwrights. Bo Leictreach 2014 takes place over the weekend of August 15-17 at Selkies newest venue, the beautiful Anam Cara Farm.
Bo Leictreach (Irish for Electric Cow) started as the Electric Cow GreenPlay Festival in May, 2011, when Selkie showcased new American 10 minute green plays at Ilicks Mill in Bethlehem. It was a magical event, with plays staged throughout the mill and the grounds.
Selkie was invited to take the concept to Ireland that fall, where it successfully co-produced Bo Leictreach, the Irish version of Electric Cow, with Jasango Theatre and the Birr Theatre & Arts Centre in Birr, Co Offaly, Ireland in 2011. Irish playwrights were asked to submit original 10 minute plays on eco-green themes; the response was tremendous, with the judges panel hard-pressed to whittle the winning list down to the 13 exceptional plays that were then performed at the Festival. With Bo Leictreach 2014, Selkie is bringing those powerful, provocative, wickedly funny new Irish plays back across the water and sharing them with Lehigh Valley audiences as they make their American debut. "The original Irish plays in Bo Leictreach are an unexpected pleasure," says Selkie Director George B Miller, "a wild mix of satire, humor, compassion and smarts." Once again, the elegant staged readings of the plays will be site-specific, traveling throughout Anam Cara Farm, from inside the historic 1794 stone farmhouse, to the bucolic grounds and patios outside.The intimate performances will end with a candle-lit reading in the farmhouse great room as the sun sets, followed by a bountiful, Irish-themed Meet The Artists reception. Selkie has chosen six of the original 13 winning plays for the August festival weekend, with plans to offer the other 7 at Anam Cara in the autumn. The plays and playwrights chosen for August 15-17 are: * Overheard in the Bar of Dooleys Hotel, Birr by Lorca Gitano* Draw A Line in the Water by Patrick Collins & John ODowd* That Old Chestnut by Anna de Suin, Dave Fahy, Jenny Coughlan and Paul Farrell* Hard Water by Jane McNulty* The Irresistible Attraction of Clonshannon Bog by Stephen Goldsmith* The Mallard by James Johnson Directing the green plays will be George B. Miller, Jack Armstrong, Pat Kelly, and Virginia Wilson. Performing in the acting ensemble are John Corl, Kevin Deely, Pat Kelly, Jeanie Olah, Marcy Hake Repp, Thomas Rush, Peter Sanchez, Kate Scuffle, Jim Vivian, and Brian Welsko. "Art can convey in a different way than science the threat that climate change poses to our planet," says 350.org founder and environmentalist Bill McKibben. "The worlds best scientists have tried to wake-up politicians to the climate crisis, now were counting on artists to help." The Bo Leictreach GreenPlay Festival, produced by Selkie Theatre at Anam Cara Farm, runs: Friday, August 15 at 7pmSaturday, August 16 at 7pmSunday, August 17 at 8pm
Tickets are quite limited; make reservations ASAP at