Origin Theatre Company's 1st Irish Festival Presents CELTIC CROSS-OVER Panel Today, 9/18

This year, the 1^st Irish Festival, produced by Origin Theatre Company, broadens its scope by presenting more events that explore the impact and interplay of other media on and in the theatre.

 

One of the Festival’s most highly anticipated events, a panel discussion, “Celtic Cross-Over,” takes place tonight, September 18 at 6:30pm, at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.  Hosted by the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, the panel and reception will explore how Irish drama, music and literature have impacted America’s business culture from Broadway to Wall Street.  This is a free event.

 

Moderating the discussion will be the playwright and novelist Belinda McKeon. Joining her in this conversation about the special intersections between the arts and business bridging the two worlds are the ambidextrous journalist Gwen Orel (she covers both Jewish and Irish arts); the theater producer and journalist Bernard Carragher (Catholic Transcript); the Irish-American actor/writer and sometime politician Malachy McCourt; Larry Kirwan, the Irish rocker (Black 47), writer and broadcaster who is represented in the Festival with his new musical “Hard Times,” and television executive Catrin Brace, the U.S. representative of the office of the First Minister of Wales.

 

The 1^st Irish Festival (the annual New York event is now in its fifth year) brings together the best in new theatre by contemporary Irish playwrights -- in productions from Ireland and the U.S. in venues across the city.

 

This year the Festival introduces the 1st Irish Next Generation Series, running from Tuesday September 25 to 30.  Following through on a process begun two season's ago, Origin opens up the full development process of the play from the page to the stage... and then to the audience, as it gives four new plays a chance to be seen in productions that are more than workshops but small enough to allow for continued experimentation and development.

 

In addition to industry feedback, artists will get valuable input from audiences on how the shows are registering.  To encourage multiple show-going, the series has a special package offer of 4 shows for $40.  To find out more visit www.1stIrish.org