Star of the Sea

A historically inspired drama that moves back and forth between the famine-ridden Ireland and a ship taking emigrants away to America. To learn about the tragic history of that era was fascinating (though horrifying), but I was less impressed by the sometimes contrived and pretentious “literary” trappings. The “document collection” premise did not work so well as in O'Connor's Shadowplay, which I loved; it was too unbelievable, which distracted and annoyed me rather than being a playful enhancement.