We are delighted that the production we are involved in of the Karl Kraus play The Last Days of Mankind in Leith Theatre, Edinburgh is running smoothly, has received great reviews, and is garnering a fantastic audience response. The play is an epic anti-war satire, translated here by Patrick Healy, Irish Joycean poet, philosopher and professor. The play will be performed at the Leith Theatre Edinburgh on the centenary of the Armistice on November 11, 2018, exactly 100 years after the ending of World War I. The international cast are joined by Smashing Times actors Michael Bates and Michael-David McKernan.
Michael-David McKiernan has written a blog on the show. Here is the blog in full:
The Last Days of Mankind is open. A gargantuan task was undertaken in the final week of rehearsals and it’s incredibly satisfying to have the whole production come together in front of a packed audience.
The audience themselves have enjoyed this bizzare post-Brechtian war satire and we’ve received some lovely feedback, both from the press and the public. The show is very different to anything I’ve worked on before, or that most audiences will have seen before, and it is certainly a spectacle that sparks debate and discussion!
Michael and I both cherish the experience of working with performers from all over Europe. It’s a fantastic feeling to join together for a multi-national curtain call at the end.
Without giving too much away, the show’s finale features the native languages from each represented country. It’s therefore a proud moment to speak some Gaeilge on the Leith Theatre stage, as part of its first professional production in 30 years.
Author Biography:
Michael-David is an Irish actor based in Dublin and London. Most recently he wrapped a role on ‘Quantico’ for ABC Studios/Disney. He will be seen in 2018 playing Shane Twomey for Element Pictures’ ‘Red Rock’. Michael-David recently won an Irish Times Theatre Award with the cast of Reality:Check Productions’ ‘Disco Pigs & Sucking Dublin’ (Best Ensemble). In 2017 he appeared in White Label’s production of ‘The Eurydice Project’ which ran at the Project Arts Centre, as Edmund in ‘King Lear’ at the Mill Theatre, as well as ‘The Voice Factor [X]’ at The New Theatre. Further screen credits include ‘3 Friends’, ‘Summon Her Children’ and ’Bonsoir Luna’. He is a singer and a multi-instrumentalist, proficient in piano, guitar, and mandolin. Michael-David is a graduate of The Programme for Screen Acting at Bow Street Film Academy. He has previously trained in Physical Theatre at LAMDA and holds a First Class Honours degree in Drama & Theatre Studies from Trinity College, Dublin.