A classic of modern Irish theatre, Donal O’Kelly’s Catalpa, with live music by Trevor Knight, is the story of the daring 1876 whaleship rescue of six Irish prisoners from the British Fremantle penal colony in Australia – all in the imagination of a rejected screenwriter, presented in the Civic on the exact 150th anniversary of the historic escapade.
Moby Dick meets Gone With The Wind with a passing glance at The Great Escape, Catalpa is a subversive epic that challenges the handed-down concept of heroism.
Fringe First Award Edinburgh; Best Event Award Melbourne International Festival.
“A masterpiece .. searingly satirical, comic, tragic, profoundly sensitive”
The Scotsman
“Rollicking, absorbing epic” Washington Times
“The best performance I’ve ever seen .. a huge adventure” Enda Walsh
Presented By: Donal O’Kelly
Duration: 90 mins. One interval
