The Donnellys: Sticks & Stones

Studio Theatre--Stratford, Toronto

About the Show

Evil erupts in the seemingly innocuous setting of rural Ontario when James Donnelly, head of an Irish immigrant family, defies the attempts of a sinister secret society to drive him off his farm. This groundbreaking classic reveals the long-unacknowledged truth behind one of the most shocking episodes in Canadian history.

The Donnellys: Sticks & Stones is the first of a trilogy of plays. Infamous in Canadian history, the Donnellys came to Ontario in 1844 from Ireland. Thirty-six years later they were nearly annihilated by a murderous secret society formed among their neighbours. The trilogy was first performed at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre in the 1970s, where it garnered much critical and popular praise for its groundbreaking literary form and fresh approach to staging.