CST Presents The Cripple of Inishmaan,Closes 3/27

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) showcases yet another of the world's renowned theater companies this spring for its World's Stage Series, bringing Chicago audiences two productions from Ireland's celebrated Druid Theatre Company. Druid's The Cripple of Inishmaan by award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh closes at CST's Courtyard Theater, March 27, 2011, complemented by a special engagement of Give Me Your Hand Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare on March 27. Tickets for The Cripple of Inishmaan in CST's Courtyard Theater are $46-$56. Tickets for Give Me Your Hand Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare are $25. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more, and all patrons receive a 40% parking discount at Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

Druid Theatre Company's The Cripple of Inishmaan is directed by Druid Artistic Director Garry Hynes. She has staged many of McDonagh's plays to great success, including Druid's premiere of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, for which she became the first woman to win the Tony Award for Best Direction (Play) in 1998. Druid's acclaimed The Cripple of Inishmaan toured Ireland and the UK in 2008 and subsequently received numerous New York accolades including an Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and two Lucille Lortel Awards. The savagely funny, brutally honest tale follows "Cripple" Billy Claven as he searches for life's meaning in the village of Inishmaan. While the town's eccentrics and ne'er-do-wells squabble over the latest bit of gossip, Billy vies for his shot at stardom in a Hollywood documentary on the neighboring island of Inishmore-and his return reveals shocking truths no one can deny.

Martin McDonagh, one of Ireland's most celebrated playwrights, is known for the dark, often wicked comedy within his works, and his plays have been widely received for their universal look at the dysfunction of "family" and its deviations. He is a frequent collaborator with Druid Theatre Company; The Beauty Queen of Leenane garnered McDonagh one of his four Tony Award nominations for Best Play, a tally that also includes The Lonesome West, another Druid premiere for which Hynes received a Tony Award nomination for direction. McDonagh is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play for The Pillowman, produced at London's National Theatre. He has found success writing for the silver screen as well-his screenplay for In Bruges garnered an Academy Award nomination, and he won the Oscar Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Six Shooter in 2006.

Druid Theatre Company returns to Chicago Shakespeare after a successful World's Stage presentation of Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce in 2009. Founded in Galway in 1975 by Garry Hynes, Mick Lally and Marie Mullen, Druid became the first professional theatre company in Ireland based outside Dublin. Druid presents work at home in Galway as well as touring extensively in Ireland and throughout the world; in 2009 alone, the company presented hundreds of performances at venues across Australia, Canada, the UK and United States. The company's extensive 2011 tour of The Cripple of Inishmaan to CST and across the US is part of Imagine Ireland, a yearlong Irish arts series in the United States funded by the Irish government, through which hundreds of events will showcase the work of Ireland's rich artistic community.

The cast of The Cripple of Inishmaan includes Liam Carney as Babbybobby, Nancy E. Carroll as Mammy O'Dougal, Ingrid Craigie as Kate, Dermot Crowley as Johnnypateenmike, Clare Dunne as Slippy Helen, Laurence Kinlan as Bartley, Dearbhla Molloy as Eileen, Tadhg Murphy as Billy Claven, and Paul Vincent O'Connor as Doctor McSharry. Joining the creative team for Hynes' production are Set and Costume Designer Francis O'Connor, Lighting Designer Davy Cunningham, Sound Designer John Leonard and Composer Colin Towns.

Playing concurrently with Druid's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan, cast members Dearbhla Molloy and Dermot Crowley will appear in a special two-night engagement of Give Me Your Hand Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare on March 20 and 27. In this imaginative production, Molloy and Crowley take audiences on a virtual "stroll" through London's National Gallery-discovering afresh the museum's masterpieces through the poetic imagination of Irish writer Paul Durcan.

The Cripple of Inishmaan plays March 16-27, 2011, in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater. Tickets are $46-$56. Give Me Your Hand plays Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare on March 20 and 27, 2011. Tickets are $25. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more, and all patrons receive a 40% parking discount at Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

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