The poetry of Yeats will be set to music by The Waterboys for a series of concerts at the Abbey Theatre – a collaboration described today as an “astonishing collection of work” combining the passion of poetry and song.
Musician and Waterboys frontman Mike Scott has crafted the songs for a series of concerts at the Abbey in March next year.
The Abbey said the “unique venture” by The Waterboys would be part of a season of “diverse and dynamic work” for its 2009-2010 season.
"Since setting WB Yeats' The Stolen Childto music on their classic Fisherman's Blues album, Waterboys frontman Mike Scott has been quietly crafting an astonishing collection of work which combines the poetry of Yeats with the passion of the Waterboy's music," the Abbey said today.
" An appointment with Mr Yeatsis the result and audiences are now invited to join Scott, Irish fiddler extraordinaire Steve Wickham and an array of specially invited guest musicians for five exhilarating nights of song and sound on the Abbey stage."
The theatre’s 2009-2010 programme announced today also includes two world premieres from playwrights Tom Kilroy and Sebastian Barry, as well as a number of returning hit productions, and celebrations of significant Irish writers.
In September, the programme opens with 80th birthday celebrations for playwright Brian Friel, with whom the Abbey has had a long-standing creative partnership.
On Wednesday September 9th, Thursday September 10th and Friday September 11th, the theatre will present public readings of the Donegal-based writer’s three favourite plays and on Sunday September 13th, actor Sinéad Cusack hosts “a night of music, song and recital”, in which some of Ireland’s finest actors will pay tribute to Friel’s “outstanding body of work”.
The Abbey will also tour Mark O'Rowe's Terminusnationwide before it returns to the Abbey in November.
Director of the Abbey Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail said: “I am extremely proud that in these difficult times I can announce two world premieres, a unique musical event, a diverse range of critically and commercially successful productions, a dedicated programme of literary development and our ongoing work to improve the experience of theatre - and the national theatre in particular - for all our patrons.”