Ghost Boat Theater: The Wren

In Ireland, for hundreds of years, the tradition of “hunting the wren” happened on December 26, when boys would walk out with sticks to hunt and kill a wren, the king of birds. They were the wren boys, who then took the little bird from house to house in their villages, gathering money and ribbons for the funeral of the “king.” In this strange, festive occasion, two sides of human nature collide; brutality, and the sense of wonder and love for a fragile, beautiful thing.

Musician and playwright Kat Eggleston wrote “The Wren” to answer the question: what would happen if the king of birds were able to assume human form once a year? What if he showed up on Christmas in 1997 in a neighborhood bar in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago? What if his hunters followed him there?

Vashon’s Ghost Boat Theater presents…