INFIDEL: THE 1991 STAGE PLAY

INFIDEL was originally a stage play by Roger Gregg produced by Graffiti Theatre Company in 1991. The play in which a cast of 4 actors played all the roles, was commissioned by the Irish third world development organisation Trocaire. The play was a response to what we now call the ‘First Gulf War’ in recognition of the old adage that those who do not learn the follies of history are condemned to repeat them.

Throughout 1991, Graffiti Theatre Company toured the Munster Province of Ireland with INFIDEL and also staged it to great acclaim at that year’s Dublin Theatre Festival. In 1993, a subsequent production of INFIDEL by Graffiti toured to NYU’s Black Box Theatre in New York City.

THE 2006 RADIO ADAPTATION.

In the summer of 2005, RTE Radio 1 commissioned Crazy Dog to adapt and expand the stage play into a 4 episode radio series. The script was re-designed specifically to exploit the epic scope possible in the audio medium. The combination of the realism of the location recordings, vivid sound design, original music score and performances by some of Ireland’s leading voice actors, has resulted in an exciting and compelling audio-epic of clashing beliefs, war and compassion.

INFIDEL: TECHNICAL NOTES:

Portions of INFIDEL were recorded on location in the stables, cobblestone courtyard, in the fields and with the horses at the historic Raleigh House near MacCroom, County Cork, Ireland. Studio portions were recorded in RTE’s radio drama studios. The prix Italia award winning sound engineer Mark McGrath recorded both the studio and location recordings. Location recordings were carried out with a portable Hard Disc recorder with a stereo microphone configuration. See our photo gallery for pictures of our recording process. The sound track music was crafted by Roger Gregg using keyboards and Arabic percussion and voice samples. The series was post-produced and mixed by Roger on Pro Tools in the Crazy Dog studios. Special thanks to the Vaughan family for their generous hospitality during our time spent at Raleigh House.

INFIDEL : The radio series in 4 episodes:

Episode 1: A Knight’s Advance.

Episode 2: A Bishop Storms Damietta.

Episode 3: The Pawns Are Sacrificed.

Episode 4: A final Stalemate.

Cast and crew:

Anthony Brophy: Sir Hugh of Beauvais

David Murray: Sir Philip of Beauvais, General Mashtub

Georgina Miller: Lady Joanna, Mother of Hugh & Philip, Old woman.

Aidan Vaughan: Brother collecting for the poor, Horse handler.

Paul B. Lennox: Omar, Brother in field hospital.

Raymond Keane: Sir Humphrey.

Morgan Jones: Morgan the Venetian arms dealer, Sultan Al Kamil, John the Preacher, Cardinal Pelagius, Officer guard.

Roger Gregg: Marshal Ricault.

Dermot Maggennis: Martin the Venetian arms dealer, Dr. Zahir, Recruiting Knight

Isaac Jones: the young Hugh.

Louis Gregg: the young Philip

Simon O’Gorman: Announcer.

Mark McGrath: sound engineer, location recording.

John Vaughan: technical assistance. Location liaison.

Sean Buckley: location equestrian stunts

Roger Gregg: Music

INFIDEL: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

While the three personal dramas of Hugh and Philip, the crusader brothers from Beauvais and Omar the youngest son of the sultan, are fiction, the wider events, grand personages and religious beliefs depicted in INFIDEL are based on the historical facts as described by contemporaneous accounts of the period.

The drama takes place during the Fifth Crusade which historians date between 1217 and 1221. After the emissaries of Pope Honorius III called the Christian nations to arms in order to seize the Holy Lands for Christianity and defeat the forces of Islam, Duke Leopold of Austria and King Andrew II of Hungary landed an international invasion force in Egypt. This uneasy coalition was placed under the leadership of the fanatical Spanish Cardinal Pelagius. Egypt at the time was the richest nation in the Islamic world and also considered its strategic weak underbelly.

After months of deadlock at Damietta, a small fortified town at the mouth of the Nile, the Crusaders eventually seized it in 1219. This victory proved hollow for the invasion eventually ended in abject failure in 1221 as the resourceful Ayubid sultan of Egypt, Al Malik al-Kamil succeeded in outmanoeuvring and rousing the foreign invaders. It was during this conflict that Francis of Assisi famously crossed enemy lines to meet with the Sultan Al Kamil. Recommended reading: A HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES Vol. 3 THE KINGDOM OF ACRE by Steven Runciman and THE CRUSADES THROUGH ARAB EYES by Amin Maalouf.

For more information contact us here at info@crazydogaudiotheatre.com