At War With Mercy - a collaborative work between LC and John MacKenna

[B4real]

https://moattheatre.com/event/at-war-with-mercy/



At War With Mercy
04 October 2024
Moat Theatre, Abbey Road
Naas, KildareW91 CA43, Ireland

At War
With Mercy is
a collaborative work between the late Canadian songwriter and
poet Leonard Cohen and the writers John MacKenna and Angela Keogh. Cohen
and MacKenna worked together on the requiem Between Your Love and Mine in the months before
Cohen's death in 2016. The idea for At War With Mercy had been
mooted at that time and now it comes to fruition.

At War
With Mercy is
a musical and dramatic exploration of war, peace and mercy through
Leonard Cohen's songs and the stories developed by Keogh and MacKenna
from Cohen's characters and writings. In a ninety-minute show, the music, characters and
words reflect on the brutality of war and the healing power of peace and mercy.

At War
With Mercy is
a tonic for the mind and soul and an affirmation of Leonard Cohen's
commitment in music, words and life to peace in the world.

With singer
Katie Jacques; singer/guitarist Shane Sullivan; percussionist Dave Day and
actors Angela Keogh and John MacKenna, the show is a life-affirming journey that echoes
with hope, warmth, redemption and peace.

[dar]

Sounds wonderful. Thank you for posting this.

[B4real]

My pleasure, dar

I like this fact -

Cohen and MacKenna worked together on the requiem Between Your Love and Mine in the months before
Cohen's death in 2016.
The idea for At War With Mercy had been mooted at that time and now it comes to fruition.

I also like the concept of healing notes to give hope for the future with the current troubles in the world.

[dar]

John is an amazing author. Although I've never corresponded with Angela it seems she is an integral collaborator/partner in his work and his life. I wish them great success with this play and may they have many performances to come. (It sure would be nice to be able to access the event on line. Might happen?) Hope all is well with you B4Real. All the best.

[B4real]

Here's a few more places and dates for this work. One just past and two next month.

https://kilcullenbridge.blogspot.com/20 ... -with.html

A performance of At War With Mercy will take place in Dunlavin on Saturday, 21 June, writes Brian Byrne. The play by the Mend & Make Do Theatre Company is a collaborative work by the late Leonard Cohen with Angela Keogh and John MacKenna.

Cohen and MacKenna worked together on the requiem Between Your Love and Mine in the months before Cohen's death in 2016. The idea for At War With Mercy had been mooted at that time. It is a musical and dramatic exploration of war, peace, and mercy through Leonard Cohen's songs and the stories developed by Keogh and MacKenna from Cohen's characters and writings.

A reflection on the brutality of war and the healing power of peace and mercy, the 95-minute show is an affirmation of Leonard Cohen's commitment in music, words, and life to peace in the world. It features singer Katie Jacques, singer-guitarist Shane Sullivan, percussionist Dave Day, and actors Angela Keogh and John MacKenna.

The presentation will be in St Nicholas Church of Ireland and will start at 7.30pm.

https://www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/d ... 62136.html
Friday 04 July 2025

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/belmullet/ ... cohen.html
12 July 2025

[dar]

Thank you so much for sharing this announcement. I sometimes consider spending my "emergency" savings to travel and attend just one of John and Angela's plays. I believe this performance would be worth it. Hell, if and when I need new tires or brakes there's always the bus!

[B4real]

dar, I'm glad you enjoyed reading that

The info in the laois-nationalist link was informative and I found this quote from it interesting:

John said: “Angela and I developed six of the 16 songs in the show into theatrical pieces." .....

“The last song in the show is a song that Leonard wrote but never recorded, so it has never been released. It’s about children and what happens to them in war-torn situations like that”. John said that in Leonard’s last email to him ten days before he passed in November 2016, Leonard said ‘whatever work of mine that you want to use for this show, please use it’.