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The Harp on the Willow by John Misto
Irish folk singer Mary O’Hara was a star at 18, a bride at 20 and a widow at 21. Her concert tours had played to full houses worldwide. Her love affair, with the poet Richard Selig was legendary for its beauty its intensity and its tragedy. Then, at the age of 26, at the height of her fame, she abruptly disappeared. If this story wasn’t true you wouldn’t believe it! The play is largely set in the early 1970’s amongst the wimples, sacral brandy and confessions by the strict Catholic order of nuns at Stanbrook Abbey. The global village of the time is one equally fraught with terror and social cultural change, IRA bombings, Richard Nixon’s Presidency, Mick Jagger and heaven forbid - ABBA fever Misto writes “I had to tell this story before Hollywood beat me to it, a story no writer would dare create, a story about those missing years, when Mary O’Hara entered an austere monastery in the English Midlands. Here, as an anonymous nun, unable to see visitors or even listen to a radio, she began a journey of self-discovery, a journey both humorous and harrowing. I spent six years searching for this extraordinary lady and located her finally in the heart of Africa. One of the world’s most beloved and famous singers was living literally in the jungle.” John Misto is also the author of the play The Shoe Horn Sonata, the mini series Day of the Roses the story of the Granville train disaster, and the telemovie Heroes’ Mountain about the rescue of Stuart Diver in Thredbo. The Melbourne 2007 production of the play featured none other than Marina Prior in the role of Mary O’Hara.
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This
is to be Wyong Drama Group’s August 2010 production, and will be directed by Ron
Baker.