God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Set on the stages and back stages of a multitude of theatres in England, Ireland and Wales in the years 1929-30, this funny and moving play about the nature of theatre begins when John Rose, former Shakespearean leading and more recently the handsome and lost star of silent movies in Hollywood, brings his friend Mary Margaret Duncan, who he's saved from a very dark situation, to rejoin Andrew McDuffy's touring company, where he long ago got his start. McDuffy, the grand old Shakespearean warhorse head of the company, is furious with John for abandoning him, but now is in deep trouble and needs him back, agreeing, much against his will, to take on Mary Margaret as well. But in the course of time McDuffy discovers that Mary Margaret is in fact a wonderfully gifted performer, and strives to teach her what he knows about acting, Shakespeare, and a life devoted to art. In the course of which, he falls desperately in love with her. Another in Nigro's long series of Pendragon plays. A powerful sequel to Laestrygonians.