CARETAKER OF COROFIN Premieres Tonight at Theater for the New City

A new play titled The Caretaker of Corofin is premiering at Theater for the New City tonight, July 2, through July 12, telling the story of an American traveler who finds herself suddenly treated as a murder suspect in the pictureseque, if rocky, town of Corofin, Ireland.

The play, written by Claude Solnik and directed by Daniel Higgins, seeks to add Corofin to the list of Irish towns that have become known as settings for stories told on stage.

The show, which will premiere the Thursday before July 4 weekend, tells the story of an American abroad, in Ireland when something goes terribly wrong.

The Caretaker of Corofin is based on an experience that Deborah Kruel Rupy, who appears in the show, had in Corofin in 1986. She had gone to Ireland to study at the Abbey Theatre, before traveling around the country.

When police asked if she had seen the caretaker of the cottages in which she stayed, she said she had seen him the night before.

It turns out that he had died under mysterious circumstances. Rupy briefly became a suspect, as police tried to figure out what had occurred. Police eventually ruled the death a suicide. But Rupy never forgot those events from 1986.

Nearly 20 years later, her experience has inspired The Caretaker of Corofin, being presented by Theater for the New City Executive Director Crystal Field and the Textile Company.

When the show starts, everything is going just fine in Corofin. After the caretaker of some cottages dies, an American traveler becomes a suspect, sticking close to Rupy's own story.

But from there, the story is fictionalized, as we see how people react and see various twists as the townspeople try to understand what happened and why.

"it's a play about how a town and a traveler handle a tragic event," Solnik said. "You watch how things deveop and, finally, how people fight to keep life the same in a small, Irish town."

The play looks at how people in the town react to the possibility of a murder, suicide or accident. Everybody tries to figure out what occurred. Uncertainty haunts the town. Everybody handles things and each other differently. The play presents a profile of people in a town, while looking at a traveler's interactions with an Irish town.

"I was terrified," Rupy said of her own experience. "Suddenly, I was being questioned. I had no idea what happened."

In the end, The Caretaker of Corofin seeks to create a profile of a town after a wrenching or disruptive event, while also looking at the experience of an American traveler who suddenly finds herself a suspect.

This is the second play by Solnik (directed by Higgins with Rupy in a lead role) set in Ireland. Although most people won't think of Theater for the New City as the home for plays about Ireland, the Textile Co. and TNC have teamed on two such plays.

TNC also presented Solnik's Lady from Limerick, directed by Higgins and co-starring Rupy and Brooke Turner, who appears in Corofin. Limerick tells the story of a Kathleen Cregan, who traveled from Ireland to New York - where she died following plastic surgery.

$15/ $12 srs./students Cabaret Theater, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., (9th-10th Sts), New York, NY. Thurs.-Sat. July 2-4 and 9-11 @ 8 p.m. and Sun. July 5 and 12 at 3 p.m. Tix. are available at (212) 254-1109 and www.theaterforthenewcity.net.

More information about The Catetaker of Corofin is available by contacting Deborah Kruel Rupy at 516-672-1018 or agirlnameddeborah@yahoo.com ,Daniel Higgins at 516-640-6274 or danielhiggins3500@gmail.com or Claude Solnik at csolnik@optonline.net or 631-913-4244.

TNC site including info. about play among upcoming producitons: http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net/personnel.htm

Smarttix site: https://tix.smarttix.com/Modules/Sales/SalesMainTabsPage.aspx?ControlState=1&DiscountCode=&SalesEventId=4120&DC=

The Caretaker of Corofin - Theater for the New City Executive Director Crystal Field and the Textile Co. present this new play by Claude Solnik about what happens when a caretaker in a small Irish town dies suddenly. As police sort through explanations, the town must come to terms with its beliefs and each other. Daniel Higgins directs this ensemble piece in its New York City premiere. Mike Cesarano plays George, Lisa Meckes plays Sinead, Deborah Kruel Rupy plays Mary, Michael Schlapp plays Timothy, Michael J. Shanahan plays Ciaran, John Torres plays Seamus and Brooke Turner plays Joy. $15, $12 students/srs. Cabaret Theater, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., (9th-10th Sts), New York, NY. Thurs.-Sat. July 2-4 and 9-11 @ 8 p.m. and Sun. July 5 and 12 at 3 p.m. Tix. are available at (212) 254-1109 and www.theaterforthenewcity.net.

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