1st IRISH 2009 - NY's All-Irish Theatre Festival Kicks Off 9/1

The second annual edition of 1st Irish, a five-week-long all-Irish theatre festival coordinated by Origin Theatre Company, runs from September 1 to October 4. Featuring a wide spectrum a works by 21 contemporary Irish playwrights spanning many theatrical sensibilities, 1st Irish 2009, takes place in a total of 12 New York City theatres, and arts and culture-related venues. Approximately 375 writers, actors, designers and stage managers from here and abroad will participate. Among the prominent New York non-profits presenting new work in their own theatres are 59E59 Theaters (on two stages), The Irish Repertory Theatre (on two stages), The Mint, and The Vineyard Theatre.

Most of the more than two dozen plays and performances will be American and New York premieres. Two theatre companies are traveling from Ireland - Fishamble: The New Play Company presents Sebastian Barry's "The Pride of Parnell Street" at 59E59 Theaters (a New York premiere); and the Wexford Arts Center, presents "Tales from Rainwater Pond," written a performed by Billy Roche, at the Irish Repertory Theatre (an American premiere). Another trans-Atlantic migration, direct from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is "LUCK," Megan Riordan's fascinating account of growing up under the tutelage of a professional Las Vegas gambler, produced by Juicy MoMo Productions and running at 59E59 Theaters.

There will be five world premieres -- five short plays commissioned by Origin Theatre Company, by five of Ireland's top women playwrights (four are based in Ireland). Grouped under the title "Spinning the Times" these are five perspectives on -- and reactions to -- the New York media machine. M. Burke Walker directs.

Two additional U.S.-based companies specializing in Irish theatre will travel to New York. The Irish Classical Theatre Company travels from its home in Buffalo to bring "The Cobbler" by Bryan Delaney, while the Inis Nua Theatre Company (which hails from Philadelphia) comes to town with "Trad" by Mark Doherty.

Several other distinguished host locations include the NY Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, The Players Club, The Players Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, the Gene Frankel Theatre, NYU's Glucksman Ireland House, Borders Bookstore at Columbus Circle, and the American Irish Historical Society. One site specific production, "Beyond the Pale," presented by Gad's Hill Theatre Co., takes place at St. Peter's Rectory in Chelsea, which doubles as an Irish manor house.

A work for children, produced by Literally Alive Children's Theatre, is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's short story fairy tale "The Selfish Giant," directed and adapted by Brenda Bell and presented at The Players Theater in Greenwich Village.

Funding support for 1st Irish 2009 is generously provided by the Festival Sponsors: the Irish Consulate NY; the Northern Ireland Bureau; Tourism Ireland; the American Ireland Fund; Culture Ireland; Mutual of America; The Irish Examiner; Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty; Tina Santi Flaherty; McVicker & Higginbotham, and the NY State Council for the Arts. The Event Sponsors include The Irish Arts Council; Dublin City Council, and Wexford City Council.

1st Irish, powered by Origin Theatre Company, runs from September 1 through October 4. 1st Irish is New York's first and only all-Irish theatre festival. For festival information visit www.1stIrish.org

Full schedule is as follows:

July 29 - Sept 20, Wed - Sat 8:00 p.m., Wed, Sat & Sun at 3:00 p.m. 

The Irish Repertory Theatre

132 West 22nd Street (bet. 6th & 7th Aves) $65 & $55 Reservations: 212-727-2737 

The Irish Repertory Theatre presents After Luke / When I Was God

By Conal Creedon, Directed by Tim Ruddy

Cast includes Gary Gregg, Colin Lane, Michael Mellamphy

After Luke explores the greed-driven frenzy of the property market when a prodigal son returns to manipulate the sale of his family home. In When I Was God, a son faces heartbreaking paternal expectations in sports. On the field of dreams, the referee is God, but what happens when God is made man?

Aug 19 - Oct 11 Tues - Thurs at 7:00 p.m., Fri & Sat at 8:00 p.m., Sat & Sun at 2:00 p.m.

Mint Theater 311 West 43rd Street (3rd floor)

$45 - $55, $25 if under age 25

Reservations: 212-315-0231 www.minttheater.org

The Mint Theater Company presents Is Life Worth Living?

By Lennox Robinson, Directed by Jonathan Bank

Cast includes JorDan Baker, Leah Curney, Bairbre Dowling, Brian Keane, John Keating, Laurie Kennedy, Kevin Kilner, Jeremy Lawrence, Erin Moon, Grant Neale, Paul O'Brian, Graham Outerbridge

In this cheerful comedy for gloomy times, when a repertory troupe brings the plays of Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg to the small Irish village of Inish, they drive the amiable local audience insane.

Sept 1 - Oct 4, Tue 7:15 p.m., Wed - Fri 8:15 p.m., Sat 2:15 p.m. & 8:15 p.m., Sun 3:15 p.m. & 7:15 p.m.

59E59 Theaters 59 East 59th Street (bet. Madison & Park Aves)

$35 (59E59 Members: $24.50)

Reservations: 212-279-4200 www.ticketcentral.com

Fishamble, The New Play Company (Ireland) presents The Pride of Parnell Street 

By Sabastian Barry, Directed by Jim Culleton, Cast includes AiDan Kelly, Mary Murray

"See, love between a man and a woman, it's-private. It happens where you never do see it. In rooms." Ireland's leading new writing powerhouse, Fishamble: The New Play Company, presents the acclaimed original production of The Pride of Parnell Street, by award-winning writer Sebastian Barry. This is an intimate, heroic tale of ordinary and extraordinary life on the streets of Dublin

Sept 2 - 20 Tue 7:30 p.m., Wed - Sat 8:30 p.m., Sun 3:30 p.m., Sat Sept 5 at 2:30 p.m.

59E59 Theaters 59 East 59th Street (bet. Madison & Park Aves)

$25 (59E59 Members: $17.50)

Reservations: 212-279-4200

www.ticketcentral.com

Origin Theatre Company presents Spinning the Times

Five world-premiere short plays by Geradline Aron, Lucy Caldwell, Rosalind Haslett, Rosemary Jenkinson & Belinda McKeon

Directed by M Burke Walker

When a Palestinian luthier, a London songwriter, a time traveler, a troubled teen and a New Yorker dream of music, escape and home, they are drawn together by the global media, even as their communities and lives are shattered by the events it depicts. A play for five voices by five acclaimed Irish playwrights, Spinning the Times is a tapestry woven by articles from the New York press.

Sept 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 & 12 at 8:00 p.m., Sept 5, 6, 12 & 13 at 3:00 p.m.

Irish Repertory Theatre 132 West 22nd Street (bet. 6th & 7th Aves)

$25

Reservations: 212-868-4444 www.smarttix.com

Wexford Arts Centre (Ireland) presents Tales From Rainwater Pond

Written & performed by Billy Roche, Directed by Elizabeth Whyte

In Ireland's strange, beautiful and eerie small town of Rainwater Pond, tales of raw life and lost-and-found love unfold. Written and performed by leading Irish playwright Barry Roche, whose Rainwater Pond story "Table Manner" was the basis for Conor McPherson's film Eclipse, which was screened at New York's Tribeca Film Festival.

Sept 6, 13 & 20 at 3:00 p.m., Sept 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 & 22 at 8:00 p.m.

Manhattan Theatre Source 177 MacDougal Street (bet. West 8th St and Waverly Pl) $20

Reservations: 212-352-3101 www.theatremania.com

Inis Nua Theatre Company (Philadelphia) presents Trad

By Mark Doherty, Directed by Tom Reing

Cast includes Mike Dees, Jared Michael Delaney, Charlie DelMarcelle

Music by John Lionarons

A centenarian and his improbably even older "da" set out to find their heir with nothing more to guide them than a limp, a hobble and a prayer.

Sept 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 & 18 at 8:00 p.m., Sept 13 at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Sept 19 at 3:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., Sept 20 at 5:00 p.m.

The Gene Frankel Theatre 24 Bond Street (bet. Lafayette St & the Bowery) $18

Reservations: 212-868-4444

www.smarttix.com

Fallen Angel Theatre Company presents Cell

By Paula Meehan Directed by John Keating

Cast includes Ruth Kavanagh, Laura Knight Keating, Aedin Moloney, Katherine O Sullivan, Laoisa Sexton

Even after "boom time," the disparity between rich and poor in Ireland is the worst of any European country. The women of Dublin's inner city remain disenfranchised-but unbowed. Cell is the story of that hidden community, told by one of its own daughters, the award-winning playwright Paula Meehan.

Sept 10, 11, 12, 19 & 25 at 9:00 p.m., Sept 17, 23 & 24 at 7:00 p.m., Sept 13, 20 & 27 at 2:00 p.m., Oct 2 & 3 at 7:00 p.m., Oct 4 at 2:00 p.m.

The Players Loft Theatre 115 MacDougal Street (bet. West 3rd & Bleecker Sts)

$18 Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.theatremania.com

Orphanage Productions in association with Olive Theater presents

Walking the Road By Dermot Bolger Directed by John Brant

Cast includes Mark Anthony Noonan & David Beck

Ireland's forgotten heroes follow Ledwidge on a post-death journey as he finds himself walking the road he once walked, but where are they going? And will any of them ever reach home? An act of repatriation for Ireland's forgotten heroes, Walking the Road gives voice to men whose lives and untimely deaths have traditionally undermined the linear narrative of nationalist Irish history.

Sept 10 - 13 8:00 p.m.

St. Peter's Rectory 346 West 20th Street (bet. 8th & 9th Aves)

$18 Reservations: 212-252-2007

Gad's Hill Theatre Company presents Beyond the Pale

By Barbara Hammond, Directed by Kevin Kittle

Cast includes Clodagh Bowyer, Kris Kling, Jenny Lamia, Ryan O'Nan,

Chelsea's historic St. Peter's Rectory plays an Irish manor house in this avant-garde environmental production, which explores the borders that still separate countries, lovers, siblings and friends.

Sept 10, 16, 18 & 19 at 7:00 p.m., Sept 23, 24, 26 & 30 at 9:00 p.m., Sept 13, 20 & 27 at 5:00 p.m., Oct 1 & 2 at 9:00 p.m., Oct 4 at 5:00 p.m.

The Players Loft Theatre 115 MacDougal Street (bet. West 3rd & Bleecker Sts)

$18 Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.theatremania.com

Ormond Road Productions presents The Good Thief

By Conor McPherson, Directed by John Keating, Featuring Sean Gormley

When a Dublin thug is caught between two crime bosses, he must run from charges of kidnapping and murder. A winner of the 1994 Stewart Parker Award, Conor McPherson's The Good Thief is a riveting tragedy of comic hard luck and lurid violence.

Sept 10 - 26 Thurs - Sat at 8:00 p.m., Sat at 3:00 p.m.

Manhattan Theatre Source 177 MacDougal Street (bet. West 8th St and Waverly Pl)

$18 Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.theatremania.com

Tweiss Productions presents A Short Wake

By Derek Murphy, Directed by Ludovica Villar Hauser

In this comedy, estranged brothers reunite at their father's wake to pay some very questionable "respects." Which version of their tumultuous family history reflects the truth, and who sent those cheap flowers?

Sept 10 7:00 p.m.

NYU Glucksman Ireland House

1 Washington Mews (at 5th Ave)

Free event, Reservations required (seating limited): 212-998-3950

A Portrait of the Artist as an Irish Woman...in New York

A panel discussion with Irish women working in the contemporary New York theatre. Presented in association with Origin Theatre Company, the talk will share thoughts, views and opinions on the journey of Irish women as they make their way through a life on the American stage.

Sept 17 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION TK

Free event Reservations: 212-998-3950. (Seating limited)

A Conversation With Professor Chris Morasch

Presented in association with the Mint Theater's production of Is Life Worth Living? Chris Morasch is the head of the school of English at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and author of A History of Irish Theatre 1601 - 2000, winner of the 2002 Theatre Book Prize.

Sept 11, 12, 25, 26 & 30 at 7:00 p.m., Sept 16, 17 & 18 at 9:00 p.m., Sept 13, 20 & 27 at 3:45 p.m., Oct 1 at 7:00 p.m., Oct 3 at 9:00 p.m., Oct 4 at 3:45 p.m.

The Players Loft Theatre 115 MacDougal Street (bet. West 3rd & Bleecker Sts)

$18

Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.theatremania.com

The Bronx Company & Whole in the Wall presents

Blood Guilty By Antoine O Flatharta Directed by Kevin Collins

Cast includes Paul Nugent, Aidan Redmond

In a world, wrote the Irish Times' Fintan O'Toole, "in which the young are doomed to repeat what they cannot understand," two Irish brothers in a farmhouse in 1989 are jolted out of isolation when their future knocks at the door. Based on true events, Antoine O Flatharta's searing one-act drama reveals how the past, present and future are inextricably linked.

Sept 13 - Oct 25

Sat & Sun pre-show workshop at 10:00 a.m.; show at 11:00 a.m.

Sept 19 & 26 & Oct 3 pre-show workshop at 2:00 p.m., show at 3:00 p.m.

The Players Theatre 115 MacDougal Street (bet. West 3rd & Bleecker Sts)

$25 - $40, $15 if you use code word Irish

Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.theatremania.com

Literally Alive Children's Theatre presents The Selfish Giant

By Oscar Wilde Directed & adapted by Brenda Bell

The Selfish Giant won't let anyone share his beautiful garden, even when he's on vacation. What can melt his heart and change his ways? Find out in this interactive musical play for children of all ages, adapted from Oscar Wilde's classic short story. Preceded by an arts-and-crafts workshop in which young spectators will make the props for the play. Calling all young artists: We can't stage our play without you!

Sept 22 - Oct 11

Tue 7:30 p.m., Wed - Fri 8:30 p.m., Sat 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m., Sun 3:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

59E59 Theaters 59 East 59 Street (bet. Madison & Park Aves)

$25 (59E59 Members: $17.50)

Reservations: 212-279-4200

www.ticketcentral.com

Juicy MoMo Productions presents Making Strange's

Luck

By Megan Riordan, Dodd Loomis & Shawn Sturnick

Directed by Dodd Loomis

Performed by Megan Riordan

Based on performer Megan Riordan's own life as the daughter of an Irish professional gambler in Las Vegas, Luck powers its way through questions of destiny, free will and faith against a fast-paced background of casino "games of chance," in which audience members are invited to play. A quiz show cross-bred with a Vegas-style cocktail party, Luck is chock-full of interrogations, luck rituals, blackjack boot camp, old-school Vegas tunes and lots of cheese-balls.

Sept 23

7:00 p.m.

American Irish Historical Society

991 Fifth Avenue (at 80th St)

Free event

Reservations: 212-253-8300

Autumn Stages in association with American Irish Historical Society presents

Relief

By C.S. Farrelly

Directed by Portia Kreiger

In 1955 American professor J. Tibbett Bainbridge vanishes off the coast of Donegal, Ireland, leaving his wife and unfinished research behind. His disappearance, while shocking, reveals a life spent in indecision and a community unready for change.

Sept 28

7:00 p.m.

The Vineyard Theatre

108 East 15th Street (bet. 4th Ave & Irving Pl)

Free event

Reservations: 917-286-0681

Irish Classical Theatre Company (Buffalo, NY) presents

The Cobbler

By Bryan Delaney

Directed by Derek Campbell

When a mute cobbler mysteriously arrives at the remote, inhospitable island of Inishbollock, the local poets, undertakers and urchins are faced with a difficult reckoning. A grotesque, lyrical and humorous tragicomedy, reminiscent of Beckett and Synge.

Sept 29

7:00 p.m.

The Players' Club

16 Gramercy Park South (20th St, east of Park Ave)

$20

Reservations: 212-352-3101

www.projectshaw.com

Gingold Theatrical Group presents

Super Shaw!

Inspired by George Bernard Shaw

An irreverent evening of Shavian snippets, scenes and songs with an all-star cast. Performers include Marian Seldes and Charles Busch. Brought to you by the creators of the four-year-old juggernaut series Project Shaw.

Oct 1

6:00 p.m.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium 40 Lincoln Center Plaza

Free event, First come first served

www.nypl.org/lpaprograms

Northern Exposure: Theatre in Northern Ireland, 1969 - 2009

A panel discussion on Northern Irish theatre and its evolution over the past four decades.

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