Barebones productions will kick off 2025 with Jay Sefton’s one-man autobiographical show Unreconciled, written by Sefton and Mark Basquill and directed by Geraldine Hughes.
The play, in which Sefton channels multiple characters, arrives in barebones’ Braddock Black Box Theater January 31-February 16, 2025.
Unreconciled is described as “the true story of an adolescent actor cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a parish priest. The story chronicles a survivor’s journey as he confronts his past, navigates a victims’ reparations program set up by the Catholic church, and discovers the courage to use his voice. This 80-minute piece is a poignant and, at times, humorous exploration of family, place, and the meaning of reconciliation.”
Sefton is a stage and screen actor and licensed mental health counselor, originally from Philadelphia and currently based in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Director and Belfast native Hughes is an actress known for the movies Rocky Balboa, Gran Torino, and for portraying Mary Todd Lincoln in Killing Lincoln.
Patrick Jordan, barebones’ founder and artistic director, met Hughes through mutual friend David Whalen, and she was helpful in the initial casting of Crocodile Fever at barebones.
Unreconciled premiered in July of last year at the Chester Theatre in Massachusetts and Féile an Phobail, Ireland’s biggest Community Arts Festival, before heading to the New York Irish Center in October.
In an interview with Belfast Media, Sefton said the show took shape after he wrote an opinion piece about “navigating a victims’ compensation fund that was set up by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2018 for survivors of clergy abuse.”
He began meeting with other survivors, which inspired him to write a show focusing on his Philadelphia community and the “two central events” of his life, being cast as Jesus in a school play at age 13, and participating in the compensation fund at age 47.
In his review for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Steve Pfarrer wrote, “Sefton put on an acting clinic, inhabiting 12 different characters. It all added up to one of the most amazing pieces of acting I’ve ever seen. It was also funny as hell and very moving.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Unreconciled will be presented at barebones productions’ Braddock Black Box Theater, 1211 Braddock Ave., Braddock, PA, Thursday-Sunday, January 31 – February 3, 2025. For times and tickets: https://www.barebonesproductions.com/unreconciled.
Categories: Company, Our Posts, Show Previews, Venue
Leave a Reply Cancel reply