The Drilling Company to Present World Premiere of HERSELF by Tim McGillicuddy

The Drilling Company's 25 year anniversary production will be the world premiere of "Herself" by Tim McGillicuddy, a comedy in which a prodigal daughter returns to the waterside town of Galway, Ireland to attend the funeral of her alcoholic brother, inherit his pub, face generations of gossip and reconcile with a charismatic parish priest. The production is part of the 2024 Origin 1st Irish Festival and will take stage March 29 to April 20 at A.R.T's Gural Theatre. Founder and artistic director Hamilton Clancy directs.  The Drilling Company has presented new plays since 1999 and is producer of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot and Shakespeare in Bryant Park.
 
In the play, a woman named Maureen, prospering in New York, must return to Galway, a coastal town in Ireland for the funeral of her brother, a tavern operator who has just died of alcoholism.  Upon learning that she has inherited his pub, Maureen resolves to restore it as a community heartspot in defiance of the wishes of her father, a millionaire real estate developer who would like to tear it down and start over. She bucks up her spirit and accomplishes the restoration, in the face of local resentment that she deserted her place of origin and tittle-tattle about her family's past that is complicated by her attraction to the new parish priest.
 
In its heart, the piece is a story of homecoming and the ordeal of losing of a loved one to a common addiction. Gossip has divided and shamed the neighborhood, which was traditionally anchored in two Irish institutions: its corner pub and its Catholic Church. But the bar is under threat of demolition and the Church no longer holds the district together in the face of economic change. Maureen returns home to confront the loss of both and to re-discover her home both for “herself” and the community. 
 
The actors are Kathleen Simmonds (as Maureen), Natalie  Smith, Hamilton Clancy, David  Marantz, Mary Linehan, Skyler Gallun, Meg Hennessy, Patrick Hart, Una Clancy and Drew Valins.  Scenic designer is Rebecca Lord-Surratt. Sound and video are by Eric Nightengale. Costume designer is Lisa Renee Jordan. Assistant Director is Karla Hendrick.  All are stalwarts of many Drilling Company productions over the last 25 years.  Additional production support is provided by Kiara Ruth Luna, Liusaidh Hopper, Curtis Howard and Jamie Russell.  For more info, see: www.drillingcompany.org.
 
Author Tim McGillicuddy is a poet and playwright. His completed works include ten books of poetry and five plays. A native New Yorker, he graduated from Regis High School and studied literature and theater at St. Michael's College in Vermont and King’s College London. His dark comedy, “The Irish Play,” was produced at the Irish Arts Center in New York by Theodore Mann and Holly Villaire and has since gone on to productions in Burlington, Vermont, Galway and Dublin, Ireland. His other plays include "The Sparrow With a Clipped Wing," a fairy tale for children; "The Problem with English," a farce; "White Christmas," a play tackling addiction and greed in America; and "Irenaeus Rex," an epic based on the life of Saint Irenaeus and the work of Elaine Pagels.
 
Director Hamilton Clancy draws on his fourth generation Irish roots, his early training at Jesuit High School of New Orleans and Catholic University of America in DC, and teachings of his mentor, the late Wynn Handman. He has staged numerous productions for The Drilling Company including the world premieres of “Gabriel” by C. Denby Swanson, “Mutant Sex Party” by Edward Manning, “Home of the Great Pecan” by Stephen Bittrich,  “Hindsight” by novelist Simon Van Booy and over 20 productions of Shakespeare’s canon for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot and Bryant Park Shakespeare.  A veteran actor, his on-camera credits include Kowalski in "Orange is the New Black" (SAG Ensemble Award), Tom in Paramount's "One Dollar," "Billions," "Mindhunter," "Blue Bloods,"  “American Gangster,” “Bridge of Spies” and The Coen Bros' "Burn After Reading."  He has appeared Off-Broadway at The American Place Theatre, Playwrights Horizons and in The Drilling Company’s long run of “The Norwegians” by C. Denby Swanson.
 

To post a comment, you must register and login.