Easter, 1916 of the poem resumes the first person narrative of the first and second stanzas. The stanza returns to the image of the stony heart: "Too long a sacrifice/ Can make a stone of the heart" (57–8), Yeats wrote, putting the determined struggle of Irish republicans in the Easter Rising in the context of the long, turbulent history of British colonialism in Ireland, as well as alluding to the immense psychological costs of the long struggle for independence. Indeed, the narrator cries, "O when may it suffice?", and answering his own question with the line, "That is heaven's part" (making an
Easter Rising (musical) concert readings of the musical, directed by Kristen Hanggi, premiered at the Public Theatre at Joe's Pub. The cast featured Colin Hanlon as Andrew, Michael Arden as John, Steven Pasquale as Caleb, and Kerry Butler as April. On January 10, 2011, David Tarlow and Christopher Sepulveda presented a workshop reading of an updated version of Easter Rising by Michael Arden, directed by Coy Middlebrook and musical directed by Jonnah Speidel, at Theatre at Boston Court in Pasadena, California. The cast featured Colin Hanlon as Andrew, Steve Kazee as Caleb, Grant Gustin as John, Ben Platt as Young Andrew, Max Sheldon