Kathryn MacMillan Named New Artistic Director of Inis Nua Theatre Company

Inis Nua Theatre Company has announced new leadership for its much anticipated 19th season. After a nation-wide search, the Board of Directors has named Kathryn (KC) MacMillan is its new Artistic Director. MacMillan is a noted local director and arts leader, who is also the long-time Artistic Director of Tiny Dynamite, a position she will continue in. Over her career, she has directed more than 50 productions both in Philadelphia and around the country. She succeeds former Artistic Director and Founder Tom Reing, who has retired due to medical reasons. MacMillan begins her journey with Inis Nua just as their forthcoming season kicks off with the Pop-up Play in a Pub with the Philadelphia premiere of 10 Dates with Mad Mary by Yasmine Akram. The show kicks off at Fergie's Pub on October 26th and runs through November 6th. Inis Nua's first season under MacMillan's leadership also includes the Philadelphia premieres of Meet Me at Dawn by Zinnie Harris and Hymm by Lolita Chakrabarti, in addition to a brand new Queer-focused reading series.

"I was introduced to Kathryn's work when she directed Little Gem for Inis Nua in 2012, the first time that Founder Tom Reing turned over direction of one of our mainstage plays," said Inis Nua Board President Anne Vogelmann. "Her deft handling of both the sensitive and raucous parts of the play impressed me. Having seen a wide variety of her work since then, it was intriguing to find out how her point of view could guide our company. The board and I believe she can bring exciting energy and renewal to Inis Nua-we are delighted that she agreed to come onboard."

"I have always been a fan of Inis Nua," said MacMillan. "I was in the audience for the very first show nineteen years ago, A Play on Two Chairs, and I was the first outside director that Tom Reing, Inis Nua's founder, ever hired, for Little Gem in 2012. I'm excited for the opportunity to shepherd Inis Nua through these changing times. Inis Nua is an important, unique company in Philadelphia's theater landscape, and I think our mission of challenging contemporary works from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales is especially important right now. In times of crisis--like the public health and economic crises we've been in--American attitudes tend to become pretty isolationist. Inis Nua has a unique opportunity (and responsibility!) to combat that isolationism, to show how the urgent work around racial equality and social justice, immigration, LGBTQI+ rights and stories, and the other things affecting us, are international issues, international conversations. The 2022-23 season really reflects this urgent need.

For the 2022-2023 season under new leadership, Inis Nua will start with A Pop-Up Play in a Pub, featuring 10 Dates with Mad Mary by Irish playwright Yasmine Akram, at Fergie's Pub from October 26 to November 6, 2022, with no preview performances. This fierce one-woman show stars Anna Faye Lieberman. The unique show also comes with not just a play, but a pint of beer and a meat (or veggie) pie to accompany the performance.

On the mainstage, Inis Nua presents Meet Me at Dawn from award-winning Scottish playwright Zinnie Harris, directed by Sam Tower. The show will run from February 15 to March 5, 2023, with opening night on Friday, February 17 at 7:00pm. Inis Nua will conclude the season with Hymn by acclaimed British playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, directed by Eric Carter. Hymn runs from April 12 to April 30, 2023, with opening night on Friday, April 14 at 7:00pm. Both mainstage shows will be held at The Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, at 302 S. Hicks Street.

Inis Nua will also debut a free Queer Connections Reading Series with Love Song to Lavender Menace, by James Ley, directed by David Bardeen, on Monday, November 14, 2022; How to Keep an Alien by Sonya Kelly, directed by Charlotte Northeast, on Monday, March 13, 2023; and Offside by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, directed by Brett Ashley Robinson, on Monday, May 15, 2023.

In her new role, MacMillan looks forward to supporting the teams behind these shows and readings. "My short term goal is to support Inis Nua's artists to make it the best season possible," said MacMillan. "I'm also going to take this time to build relationships with Inis Nua's audiences, to get to know them and show them that all the things they love about Inis Nua, I love those things too."

Inis Nua's Board and President would like to thank the company's Founder and former Artistic Director for creating the unique organization and carrying out its mission for the last 18 seasons.

"In 2019, I was in Edinburgh and noticed I was walking funny," explained Reing. "My doctor referred me to a neurologist. Tests were done through that fall and winter. In February 2020, I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The doctor hoped it would take years to progress, but even with medicine and therapy, my condition has worsened. I have much pride in Inis Nua's accomplishments, but I need to take care and focus on my health."

"Inis Nua steps forward into the new season as founder and artistic director Tom Reing steps back," said Board Chair Anne Vogelmann. "However, the company still holds true to Tom's original idea to present exciting, fresh, and challenging new plays from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Inis Nua is proud to add this international facet to the Philadelphia theatre scene and excited to continue to explore the many voices of those countries."

Vogelmann concluded, "Inis Nua is a vibrant spark in the community and the artists, staff, board and audiences thank and honor Tom for his work."

"I also want to thank noted Philadelphia artist Charlotte Northeast who served as Interim Artistic Director," added Vogelmann. "She led the season selection for this upcoming season."

MacMillan said, "I'm proud to get to lead the company through the season she's chosen."

MacMillan lives in Collingswood, NJ and has degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Villanova University. She is a director and arts leader who has directed more than 50 productions in Philadelphia and beyond. She sees the company as a place to give new tools to the talented acting pool in the region. Moving forward, MacMillan will shape the Philadelphia region's theatre scene by serving dual roles at the helm of both Inis Nua Theatre and also her continued role at Tiny Dynamite.

"I know that big transitions can feel uncertain for audiences," MacMillan said. "The message I want to share is, "yes, this is still the company you love, and in the next few years we're going to go on some new adventures together, and you'll be a part of that, too."

"Inis Nua at the very best in its history has not only produced the stories of the British isles and Ireland, but also brought unique performance styles and methods to Philadelphia audiences and artists," she said. "I'll never forget Dublin By Lamplight, which drew on the performance style of the Corn Exchange, a Dublin devising company. It blew me away! It gave Philly actors new tools! I plan to do a lot more of that kind of cross-pollination with international companies. Theatre is more challenging to produce than ever. In doing it, we must make a case with every show that our work is necessary! That it's furthering the art form, as best we can, in our community."

For those new to Inis Nua Theatre Company, the company has the unique mission to present contemporary plays from Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales for audiences from the Philadelphia region. Inis Nua mines the shared cultural histories of these countries for an American audience, introducing fresh new voices from abroad who tackle social, political, and interpersonal issues seen reflected in our own country.

For the coming season, individual tickets for all shows are on sale now for $30 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors. Subscriptions are on sale for $50 for both mainstage shows or $75 for all three shows. For more information, tickets and subscriptions, call (215) 454-9776 or visit inisnuatheatre.org.

ABOUT KATHRYN MACMILLIAN

Kathryn MacMillan is a theater director and arts leader who has been working in the Philadelphia region for more than 20 years. KC has directed more than 50 productions in Philadelphia and beyond; recent productions include Unraveled (off-Broadway); Grounded and The Niceties (InterAct); Betrayal and Mrs. Warren's Profession at Lantern Theater Company, where she was the Associate Artistic Director for eight seasons; and Athena at Theatre Horizon, where she served as Guest Artistic Director for the 2017/18 season. KC's accolades include recent Barrymore Award nominations for directing The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged (Tiny Dynamite; also co-writer) and The Revolutionists (Theatre Horizon); Doubt (named one of the Best Plays of 2015 by the Philadelphia Daily News); the critically acclaimed The Beauty Queen of Leenane (named Best Production of the 2013 season & Best Director by Philadelphia Weekly, who called her "sensationally gifted"), and I Am My Own Wife (Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production of a Play, and winner of the Virginia Brown Martin Philadelphia Award). In 2015, KC was named one of Billy Penn's Who's Next: 16 Young Philadelphians Shaping the Arts Scene. KC continues as Producing Artistic Director of indie Philadelphia theater company, Tiny Dynamite, a position she has held since 2017.

ABOUT INIS NUA THEATRE COMPANY

Inis Nua's mission is to produce contemporary, provocative plays from Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales which reflect those cultures' new identities in today's world. Inis Nua also seeks to cultivate and produce contemporary, provocative work from American Playwrights who deal with the Irish-American, Welsh-American, Scottish-American and Anglo-American experiences. In its nineteen-year history, the company has been the recipient of 6 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre including the prestigious June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theatre Company (2014) and been nominated for an additional 28 Barrymore Awards.

To date, Inis Nua has produced one world premiere, twenty-five American premieres, and fifteen Philadelphia premieres, and had eleven playwrights visit during production of their shows. Inis Nua Theatre Company has been the recipient of grants from the William Penn Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, the Independence Foundation, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Charlotte Cushman Foundation, MKM Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Virginia Brown Martin Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, the Connelly Foundation, the Free 2 Be Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, and the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme.