Chalice Theatre to perform Once on This Island

Very soon, our own Chalice Theatre will present its 14th annual intergenerational musical, opening on Feb. 19 and running until March 7. The show is Once on This Island, first produced in New York in 1990. It is set in an unnamed Caribbean island (modeled on Haiti) exploring issues of class and privilege in the context of a moving love story and wonderful island rhythms. An exciting thing for Chalice Theatre is the effort to create related programming to enrich the experience of the musical and to reflect upon its themes. There will be a panel discussion about the play on Tuesday March 2, facilitated by Rev. Linda Olson Peebles, and featuring Dr. Angie Copeland, theatre professor at Northern Virginia Community College. There has also been some interest in reading and discussing the works of Haitian author Edwidge Dandicat.
Of course, those of us involved in the production would have had no idea of the terrible relevance of the play’s Haitian connection when it was chosen to be produced. We are grateful for the opportunity to lift up the people of Haiti through this beautiful story and also to provide an opportunity for audiences to contribute to Partners in Health, an organization run by Paul Farmer located in Haiti.