Irish Rep to Present Nate Rufus Edelman's THE BELLE OF BELFAST; Claudia Weill to Direct

Off-Broadway's award-winning Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) proudly announces the fourth production of its 27th theatre season, the New York premiere of Nate Rufus Edelman's THE BELLE OF BELFAST, directed by Claudia Weill. THE BELLE OF BELFAST was developed as part of the Irish Rep's Reading Series in 2013. THE BELLE OF BELFAST will begin previews on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. The production is scheduled to run through Sunday, June 7, 2015. The Opening Night is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2015.

Due to a current theatre renovation at its home base on West 22nd Street, The Irish Rep's productions are currently presented at the DR2 Theatre (103 East 15th Street in Union Square).

In 1985 Belfast, fiery and profane Anne Malloy drinks and smokes her days away with her chubby curry chip-addicted best mate. When she turns to her parish priest, Father Reilly, seeking the comforts of the flesh in addition to the comforts of the soul, she discovers her troubles have just begun. A wry and bittersweet portrait of a city at war, THE BELLE OF BELFAST forces us to consider what is wrong and what is righteous.

In 2013, THE BELLE OF BELFAST was part of The Irish Rep's ongoing Reading Series, which gives playwrights, both emerging and more established, the invaluable opportunity to develop their new work in a supportive, safe environment and also introduces some Irish playwrights, especially those who might not yet have the New York recognition they merit, to an American audience. THE BELLE OF BELFAST was also developed as part of Cherry Lane Theatre's Mentor Project, and received its world premiere at EST/LA in Atwater Village, Los Angeles.

The cast of THE BELLE OF BELFAST features Hamish Allan-Headley as Ben Reilly, Patricia Conolly (IS HE DEAD?, THE COAST OF UTOPIA) as Emma Malloy, Arielle Hoffman as Ciara Murphy, Kate Lydic as Anne Malloy, and Billy Meleady as Dermott Behan.

THE BELLE OF BELFAST has scenic design by John McDermott, costume design by Terese Wadden, lighting design by Justin Townsend, sound design by Daniel Kluger, and projections by Jeff Larson. Stephen Gabis is the dialect coach. The Production Stage Manager is Christine Lemme, and the ASM is Rebecca C. Monroe.

Nate Rufus Edelman (Playwright) is a writer and director for the stage and screen who divides his time among New York City, Los Angeles and Ireland. His stage plays have been produced and developed at The Cherry Lane Theatre, The Vineyard Theatre, Firstlook Theatre, the Celtic Arts Centre, FirstStage, EST/LA, Antaeus Theatre Company, Bank of Ireland Theatre, Samuel Beckett Theatre and the Road Theatre. His screenplay, "The Scavengers," was on "The Black List" and is in development. Nate was educated at University of California, Santa Cruz, and Trinity College Dublin and received his MFA at New York University.

Claudia Weill (Director) is a film, television, and theatre director. After graduating from Harvard in 1969, she made 30 short films for "Sesame Street" and directed documentaries, notably The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir, with Shirley MacLaine, 1975 (Academy Award Nomination) and This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham (Kennedy Journalism Award). She produced and directed her first feature, Girlfriends, in 1979, which she sold to Warner Bros. after winning multiple awards at Cannes, Filmex and Sundance. Next she directed It's My Turn for Columbia Pictures (with Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas and Charles Grodin), winning the Donatello (European Oscar) for Best New Director. Claudia's most recent work in Television is HBO's "Girls" (episode 6 aka "Boys"). In addition to "Sesame Street," she is well known for multiple episodes of "thirtysomething" (Emmy, Humanitas Awards), "My So-Called Life," "Chicago Hope" (Reynolds Award), "Once and Again" and TV/Cable movies Johnny Bull (with Jason Robards, Colleen Dewhurst and Kathy Bates) and Face of a Stranger (with Tyne Daly and Gena Rowlands, Emmy for Best Actress). As a theatre director, she has worked at Williamstown, The O'Neill, Sundance, ACT, Empty Space, Manhattan Theatre Club, Circle Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Public Theatre, where she was nominated for the Drama Desk Best Director Award for the premiere of Donald Margulies' Found a Peanut. During the past year, she directed A Sunrise in Times Square (Sharr White) for EST Marathon 2013, What a Pill (Atik) for EST YOUNGBLOODS and before that The Belle of Belfast (Edelman) at EST LA, plus several readings and workshops. Previously, a few favorites were Tape (Belber) with Michael Urie, the West Coast Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Doubt with Linda Hunt at the Pasadena Playhouse. Memory House (Tolan) with Kathy Baker, End Days (Laufer) with Amy Aquino, Adam Baum and the Jew Movie (Goldfarb) with Tony Shaloub at The Vineyard Playhouse, Huck and Holden (Rajiv Joseph) at the Black Dahlia, La Bella Famiglia at ACT and Twelfth Night and Act a Lady (Harrison) at Antaeus.

THE BELLE OF BELFAST will be performed Wednesday, April 15, 2015 through Sunday, June 7, 2015. The Press Opening is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2015. The performance schedule is Tuesdays at 7pm; Wednesdays at 3pm and 8pm; Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets to THE BELLE OF BELFAST are priced at $71.00 and are on sale now through The Irish Rep box office by calling 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

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