Playwright Enda Walsh of THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM Discusses How "Words Can Get in the Way"

Playwright Enda Walsh, author of THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM and THE WALWORTH FARCE, feels that, as contradictory as it may seem, words have a habit of getting in the way. Walsh says that, although in theatre words are obviously of the utmost importance, ideas can be communicated through the actors feelings and actions. Walsh believes that "theater can be much more than just people talking."

The LA Times spoke to Edna about his feelings about words getting in the way: "I had a play called 'Bedbound' that I directed in Italian before I directed it in English." Walsh does not speak Italian and the cast did not speak English. "I had a translator for three days, but then I got rid of her because I didn't need her," he says, "I knew the play, they knew the play, and it was about finding the rhythm of it. We all knew the scenes, and I knew emotionally what they were trying to get at. It was a very funny experience."

To read the full article from the LA Times, click here.

Walsh is currently premiering his new play, THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The play premiered at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe First Award. The production is brought to St. Ann's by the Irish theatre company Druid Ireland and is directed by Edna Walsh. It runs at St. Ann's Warehouse through November 22nd.

Druid Ireland's The New Electric Ballroom, Enda Walsh's "most intoxicating and original piece of writing," according to the New York Times' Charles Isherwood, is a companion piece to The Walworth Farce, which made its American Premiere at St. Ann's Warehouse in April 2008, earning Walsh the distinction of being deemed one of Ireland's freshest new voices. The story unfolds in a small fishing town on the west coast of Ireland, where, night after night, two aging sisters re-enact a night in the early ‘60s with a seductive rock singer at the New Electric Ballroom. On this particular night, enter Patsy, the fish monger.

"The New Electric Ballroom affirms Mr. Walsh's growing reputation as a contender to take his place in the long, distinguished line of great Irish playwrights," says The New York Times.

Walsh is among Ireland's most widely produced contemporary playwrights, having written extensively for the stage, radio and film. He was a founding member of Corcadorca Theatre Company in Cork in 1994, where he produced his breakthrough play Disco Pigs that won the Stewart Parker Award and the George Devine Award. His screenplay Hunger won numerous awards including the 2008 Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Best First Film, Best Film awards at the Sydney and Jerusalem Film Festivals and the Gold Hugo Award at Chicago International Film Festival, among many others.

Tickets for The New Electric Ballroom range in price from $35 to $78 and may be purchased online through St. Ann's website at www.stannswarehouse.org or thorugh the box office at 718-254-8779. The production will run through November 22.

For more information, visit St. Ann's website at www.stannswarehouse.org.