Inis Nua Theatre Company Set to Present Philadelphia Premiere of THE WALWORTH FARCE

Inis Nua Theatre Company is finishing its season with the Philadelphia premiere of Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce, a dark comedy by one of Ireland's most celebrated contemporary playwrights. The show runs May 8-27 at the Off-Broad Street Theatre at First Baptist Church. Opening night is Wednesday, May 9, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20-$25 and are available by phone at 215-454-9776 or online at www.inisnuatheatre.org.

In this piece, Walsh, the book writer of the musical adaptation of the movie Once, transports audiences to a rundown tenement block where a father and his two sons reside. Each night, Dinny pushes sons Blake and Sean to join him in a reenactment of the stories behind their flight from Cork to this bleak council flat in London. Throughout this play within a play, audiences see how the stories shape their perceptions and their current lives. Existing almost solely within these stories, the family performs this ritual daily, but on this day their play will be knocked off course.

Artistic Director Tom Reing says, "Inis Nua always strives to produce the best in Contemporary Theatre from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales and The Walworth Farce is one of the best contemporary plays from Ireland I have read. I look forward to giving Philadelphia audiences a chance to see this exciting piece of theatre."

The premiere of the play was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and went on to tour the U.K. 

Tom Reing directs The Walworth Farce. Harry Smith stars as Blake, Bill Van Horn appears as Dinny, Jake Blouch is cast as Sean, and Leslie Nevon Holden is playing Hayley. The artistic team joining Reing includes: Set Designer Meghan Jones, Lighting Designer Andrew Cowles, Costume Designer Maggie Baker, Sound Designer Nick Kourtides, and Fight Choreographer J. Alex Cordaro.

Inis Nua first produced work by Enda Walsh in 2010 when they staged Bedbound. His plays, including Disco Pigs, Bedbound, Small Things, Chatroom, New Electric Ballroom, Penelope, and The Walworth Farce, have been translated into more than 20 languages and have had productions throughout Europe and in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. He has written for the silver screen, penning the screenplay of the film Disco Pigs, which starred Cilian Murphy, and co-writing the screenplay for Hunger directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender. Hunger won numerous awards including the Caméra d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Film Award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2009 and a nomination for Best British Film at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards.

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