Irish Rep Announces TWO BY FRIEL And THIS LAND: Dan Barry In Conversation With Colum McCann

Irish Repertory Theatre announced today the next production on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage, and an upcoming special event.

Two by Friel: Lovers: Winners & The Yalta Game by Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa). Directed by Conor Bagley (An Iliad), Two by Friel begins performances on November 7, 2018 at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage, with an opening night set for November 12, and will run through December 23, 2018. Tickets are on sale now through Irish Rep's box office at 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

Two by Friel juxtaposes two short plays by Irish master Brian Friel-Lovers: Winners (1967) and The Yalta Game (2001). Each piece centers on a couple in the blossoming stage of romance; they build worlds of imagination, possibility, and hope - pushing away the encroaching realities that threaten to extinguish their love. Lovers: Winners follows the story of Mag and Joe, two teenage lovers who meet at the top of a hill to study for their final examinations, make plans for their upcoming wedding, and prepare for the child they are expecting. Meanwhile, two narrators relate the darker events surrounding that day. In The Yalta Game, adapted from Chekhov's short story "The Lady with the Lapdog," Dmitry and Anna fall in love while on vacation from their spouses. In their courting, Dmitry teaches Anna about the Yalta game-a game in which visitors invent stories about the people they see in the square. But is their love-is any love-real or imagined? Forever or ephemeral? Two by Friel explores the nature of love, the power of the imagination, the stories we believe, and those we brush aside.

Lovers (1967) and The Yalta Game (2001) were written toward the beginning and end, respectively, of Brian Friel's illustrious career. Lovers was written in two parts: "Winners" and "Losers;" it premiered at The Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1967 before its 1968 Broadway debut at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. The Yalta Game is making its New York premiere with this production. Developed from a theme in Anton Chekhov's 1899 story "The Lady with the Lapdog," it was first produced by The Gate Theatre in 2001.

The cast of Two by Friel will include Aoife Kelly, Phil Gillen (The Home Place), Jenny Leona (Pushkin), and Aidan Redmond (Woman and Scarecrow).

Two by Friel will feature set design by Daniel Prosky (Bachelorette), costume design by China Lee (New Girl in Town), lighting design by Michael O'Connor (It's A Wonderful Life), and sound design by Ryan Rumery (Woman and Scarecrow). Devin Wein (The After-Dinner Joke) will serve as Production Stage Manager.

The performance schedule for Two by Friel is as follows: Wednesdays at 3pm and 8pm; Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets to Two by Friel are available for $50. Tickets are on sale now through Irish Rep's box office by calling 212-727-2737, or online at www.irishrep.org.

Currently in performances on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage is the world premiere of Wild Abandon by Leenya Rideout (War Horse). Directed by Lisa Rothe (Hold These Truths), Wild Abandon opened September 24 and will run through October 21, 2018. On the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage is the New York premiere of On Beckett. Conceived and performed by Tony Award winner Bill Irwin (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), On Beckett explores the writings of Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot, Endgame), and opens October 3, for a run through November 4, 2018.

On Monday October 29, 2018 at 7:00pm, Irish Rep will host Dan Barry's THIS LAND: America, Lost and Found - A Conversation with Colum McCann. In this special one-night only free event, journalist Dan Barry discusses his new book, THIS LAND: America, Lost and Found, with acclaimed Irish author Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin).

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and on the eve of a national recession, New York Times writer Dan Barry launched a column about America - not the one populated only by cable-news pundits, but the America defined and redefined by those who clean the hotel rooms, tend the beet fields, endure disasters both natural and manmade. For more than a decade, Barry crisscrossed the country, filing deeply moving stories from the tiniest dot on the American map to the city that calls itself the Capital of the World. In THIS LAND: America, Lost and Found (Black Dog & Leventhal; September 11, 2018), Barry selects nearly 100 essays from a decade of his distinctive "This Land" columns that explore uniquely American moments from every corner of our country.

The event will take place on Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage. Tickets are free and open to the public. Seating is limited. RSVP through Irish Rep's box office by calling 212-727-2737 or online at irishrep.org.

For more information about Irish Repertory Theatre visit www.irishrep.org.

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