Belle Aykroyd, Robert Cuccioli and More to Star in Irish Rep's for A TOUCH OF THE POET; Full Cast & Creative Team Announced

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) has announced the full cast & creative team for A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O'Neill and directed by Ciarán O'Reilly (Dublin Carol). Performances will begin on the Francis J. Greenberger Mainstage on March 25, 2020, with opening night set for April 5, for a run through May 10, 2020.

The cast of A Touch of the Poet will include Belle Aykroyd (A Christmas Carol) as Sara Melody, Ciaran Byrne (The Dead, 1904) as Dan Roche, Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde) as Cornelius "Con" Melody, Kate Forbes (Sight Unseen) as Nora Melody, Mary McCann (The Weir) as Deborah, Andy Murray (The Seafarer) as Cregan, David O'Hara (Three Small Irish Masterpieces) as Paddy O'Dowd, Tim Ruddy (The Seafarer) as Mickey Maloy, David Sitler (Donnybrook) as Patch Riley and John C. Vennema (Linda) as Nicholas Gadsby.

A Touch of the Poet will feature scenic design by Charlie Corcoran (Dublin Carol), costume design by Alejo Vietti (Smokey Joe's Cafe), lighting design by Michael Gottlieb (London Assurance), sound design by M. Florian Staab (London Assurance), original music by Ryan Rumery (London Assurance) and props by Sven Henry Nelson (London Assurance).

In A Touch of the Poet, proud and tempestuous Cornelius Melody (Con) owns a run-down inn and tavern near Boston in 1828. Laden with debt, Con clings to his tenuous identity as a landed gentleman and war hero and chastises his wife and daughter for actions that expose the family's humble Irish origins. When his daughter Mary falls in love with a wealthy American guest at their inn, Con's pride drives him to an explosive reckoning with his true place in the New World.

A Touch of the Poet, Eugene O'Neill's tragic tale about an immigrant's experience and generational aspiration, was the first work written for the playwright's famously unfinished cycle about the Irish in America. Completed in 1942, A Touch of the Poet has received four Broadway productions. It premiered in October of 1958 at the Helen Hayes Theatre, nearly five years after the playwright's death.

The performance schedule for A Touch of the Poet will be as follows: Wednesdays at 3pm and 8pm; Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm. Exceptions: there will be no performance on Sunday April 5.

Tickets to A Touch of the Poet start at $45 and are available through Irish Rep's box office at 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

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