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The Middle Kingdom
She was once an immortal Goddess, taken from her home, transformed into a fly and cast upon the winds of ill-luck for a thousand years. What will it take to awaken the memory of her true self? ​
Deep in the heroic past of ancient Ireland, in the age of fables and dreams, the God Midir searches desperately for the chance to see the face of his wife Étaín once more. Yet when he finds her at long last, she stares at him as if he were a complete stranger.
How can she be expected to remember anything after being turned into a mayfly by a jealous rival, accidentally swallowed whole by a mortal women, and re-born again as an innocent baby, bereft of all her past memories? Yet when Étaín grows up and becomes the new Queen of Ireland, wife of the high King, Eochaid Airem, everyone senses she is imbued with a fairy glamour.
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Midir will stop at nothing to awaken Étaín's memories of the glad lands, for he too see's the faraway look in her eyes, the inexplicable yearning for a forgotten dream.
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The Middle Kingdom is based upon the early Irish myth, Tochmarc Étaíne, or The Wooing of Étaín. It is preserved in the 12th century Lebor na hUidre, or Book of The Dun Cow, yet was recorded in the Gaelic language roughly dating to the 8th century.
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​The music for The Middle Kingdom retains the spirit of the original story, expressed through harp ballads, percussive chants and the voices of the past coming through to help communicate a message of love eternal.
A HEADY LORE Production
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​The theatrical debut of The Middle Kingdom was held at The Center For the Arts, Grass Valley, California, October 23rd-26th, 2025.
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​​​Run Time: 90 Minutes​
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PRODUCTION TEAM
Author, Music Score, Director, Art Direction: Dalrymple MacAlpin
Assistant Director: Tynowyn Woolman
Producer, Graphics and Production Assistance: Sara Zahn
Costumes, props, Dance Choreography: Bluebird Gaia
Stage Manager: Beverley Lafae
Set Design: Pamela Hodges
Video: Camen Hodges
Lighting Design, Production Assistance: Maury Horn
Poster Artist: Sara Zahn
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ORIGINAL CAST
The Storyteller, Bitter Grump Crooked Tooth, Amergin the Bard: Dalrymple MacAlpin
Etain: Fiona Gaia
Midir: Nils Frykdahl
BEochaid Airem, Sidhe worker: Patience Yanderling
Fuamnach: Elizabeth Grady
Ailill of the Single Stain, Sidhe Worker: Steven Melendez
Sidhe Worker, Etain's Mother: Bluebird Gaia
Wind Dancer, Hand Maiden, Sidhe Worker, Sleep nymph: Tina Jackson
Wind Dancer, Hand Maiden, Sidhe Worker, Sleep Nymph: Antoinette Quintal
Eochaid's Servant, Etain's Hand Maiden: Jessica Henry
Eochaid's Servant, Etain's Hand Maiden: Caliko Wright
MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Harp, Piano, Penny Whistle, Hunting Horns, Orchestral Bells: Dalrymple MacAlpin
Piano, Harpsichord, Organ, Vocals: Leonna Sapphire
Vocals, Jango, Surdo, Udo, Jing, Gong, Timpani: James Word
Vocals, Cello, Violin, Tanpura, Glockenspiel, Doumbek, Talharpa, Bodhran: Bluebird Gaia
Vocals, Percussion, Vibraphone, Rainstick: Tynowyn Woolman
Vocals, Orchestral Bells, Percussion, Timpani: Brook Caballero
Vocals, Percussion, Thunder Can: Jessica Henry
Caliko Wright: Vocals, Rainsticks
Children's Choir: Edda Faun Frykdahl, Ura Dis Frykdahl, Fiona Baker, Dominico M. Jardin, Payton Parker, Amia Hazel Jardin, Olivia Corbett
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