Fair Play Productions Presents PADDY'S WAKE: NOT YER GRANNY'S ST. PATRICK'S DAY

As Irish organizations around New York prepare to celebrate St. Patrick's legacy and contributions to Ireland on March 17, the producers behind theatre company Fair Play Productions are preparing a completely different kind of celebration. "It's a weeklong wake for St. Patrick, the original sad - but hot - 'Irish' icon," laughs Derry City native and New York-based producer Labhaoise Magee.

A tradition originating in the Celtic pagan practices that British-born St. Patrick aimed to drive out of Ireland, the Irish Wake brings peace to the living and the dead through song and storytelling. "What better way to say goodbye to such a divisive figure in Irish history than to present two Irish plays and pagan ways he would be so quick to banish," says Magee.

In that spirit, Fair Play Productions is collaborating with Wandering Stories to transfer Dublin artist Sinéad O'Brien's five-star, Edinburgh Fringe smash hit No One Is Coming for its long-anticipated Off-Broadway debut. Lauded by critics as "Unmissable" (To-Do List London), "Storytelling as it should be" (The Herald Scotland), and "Heartfelt and powerful" (Everything Theatre London), No One is Coming is a dark comedy of mythical proportions about Sinéad O'Brien's turbulent relationship with her parents through their mental health struggles. By reframing the stories of Irish legends like Fionn mac Cumhaill and Brian Boru through the lens of her modern-day mammy issues, Sinéad shares what it means to become one's own hero.

Karen Cogan's "Wickedly Funny" (The Irish Times), "Engrossing" (British Theatre Guide), and "Witty and vivid" (The Guardian) play Drip Feed stars Wicklow native Owen Laheen. Set in Cork City, 1998, Brenda is so rooted in the city that they're basically part of the furniture. That all changes when they wake up hungover and broken on the wrong person's doorstep. Drip Feed is a fast, infectious, dark comedy about the hope and heartbreak of messy, queer love in Ireland.

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