Rebellion on Sundance

Not that you will have time tonight with all the HBO shows, but you may want to set aside some time for the 3-night special Rebellion that starts tonight on SundanceTV. The show premieres on the 100th anniversary of a real challenge to a real throne, this time the Easter Rising in Ireland against English Crown.  The story follows various families as they struggle internally and externally with the circumstances around them. 

Here is show producer Catherine Magee describing the ongoing struggle:

In our drama, one brother is in the British army trying to support his family; the other brother is a socialist caught up with Connolly. These kinds of splits happen. This kind of fascinating drama happens in the middle of a historical event. So we tried to do what a drama does, which is take a human perspective and not try and be a history lesson. I hope that will make it different and that’s what people will respond to: the human perspective.

You can see a clip from the series here, demonstrating how a daughter conspires against her own father.  

The Irish already celebrated the 100th anniversary on Easter Sunday, though here in the US the celebration happens today.  Why the confusion?  Here is one view from the the website IrishCentral:
 
Why did Ireland mark one day as the 1916 centennial and the rest of the world another? Was it to ensure a tourism boost for the commemorative events? Was it to avoid a St. Patrick’s Day-esque scenario in which Ireland’s leaders seem to be in every nation except the one they represent on the day that celebrates their country? It can’t be the latter, as only one government minister is traveling to the US for the 1916 celebrations.

Regardless of the scheduling of celebrations, the event itself is well commemorated in the SundanceTV series.