Corrib Theatre to Present SPEAR by CN Smith Beginning This Month

Corrib Theatre will present the American Premiere of Spear by CN Smith, directed by Joy Nesbitt. Three white Irish men confront their vulnerabilities and jealousies as they discuss the Olympic success of their former Black friend. The production will run February 16 - March 10 at 21Ten Theatre, Portland.

The cast includes Ryan Edlinger as Joe, Dylan Hankins as Nate, and Rocco Weyer as Sean.

The creative team includes Kyra Sanford (Scenic Design), Viola Horton (Costume Design), Jeb Stuart (Lighting Design), Jonathan Castillo (Sound Design), Colin Herring (Stage Manager/Production Manager), Karl Hanover (Dialect Coach)

White fragility simmers in the wake of Black success.

Three white Irish men meet at their childhood athletic field to catch up, drink, and discuss the recent Olympic success of their former Black friend, Amir. Their vulnerabilities, jealousies, and perceived failures seethe below the surface as they recall their teenage years. In a parallel reality, the young men wrestle with flashes of the past when they enact scenes from Amir's diary.

“CN Smith's decision to write a play exposing the nuances of Irish whiteness grows more important by the day. Racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Ireland, demonstrated by the events of November 23rd, 2023 (our Thanksgiving Day), where alt-right rioters took to the streets of Dublin in protest of dark-skinned immigrants. A few weeks later, a housing center for asylum-seekers was set on fire in the rural Irish town of Rosscahill. Ireland's history of freedom-fighting is rightfully a source of pride for many of us, but that history does not disqualify Ireland and its global diaspora from the ability to harbor prejudice. We thank CN Smith for his work on this subject.” - Holly Griffith, Artistic Director

Spear by CN Smith

Dates : February 16 - March 10

Thu – Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2pm

WHERE: 21Ten Theatre

2110 SE 10th Ave, Portland OR 97214


TICKETS: $35 General; $15 Student 

503-389-0579 or via button below

Accepts Arts Card discount and participates in Arts for All
 

AUDIENCE ENRICHMENT EVENTS:
 

ASL Interpreted Performance – February 29, 2024

Talkbacks with Director Joy Nesbitt, Literary Manager Pancho Savery, and
Artistic Director Holly Griffith at select performances

 

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
 

CN Smith
 

CN Smith is a playwright and director from County Louth, Ireland. He was a recipient of The Lir Academy's Patricia Leggett Playwriting Scholarship for 2020, allowing him to complete his MFA. His play Spear was a Dublin Fringe Festival commission for 2022, and was presented at Smock Alley. An excerpt of his play Corktown was presented as part of the 2023 Trans-Atlantic Commissions readings in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“Spear is a play about race, mediocrity, and misunderstanding. It was born out of a recognition of (and frustration with) the prevalence of one-hander confessional plays written by non-white people about our trauma. I recognised the immediate value these plays provided both for the artists and for audiences – the stories they allowed to be shared, the visions they platformed, and the solidarity they allowed to be built. However, their prevalence raised some questions for me, chief among them being: Why do white people love them so much? And why are we so quick to put our bodies and traumas under the microscope for their entertainment? Aren't they the ones who should be examined? I then began to think about whether there might be a way to explore the same themes present in all of that great confessional work while also attempting to answer those questions for myself. Spear was written as an effort to thread that needle. It follows three friends as they drink in a field and read passages from their former friends' diary.” -CN Smith on Spear
 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
 

Joy Nesbitt was recently named “One to Watch in 2024” by the Irish Times.

Joy Nesbitt is a director, writer, and musician originally from Dallas, Texas. Joy is inspired by stories of Black Femininity and postcolonial imagination. In 2022, Joy attended the Theatre Directing MFA at The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts. She is a 2021 recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for the sum of her artistic activities at Harvard University. Joy is currently a 2023 Director SEED for Rough Magic Theatre Company and a member of the 2023 cohort of the Rachel Baptiste Programme at Smock Alley Theatre.  Joy's directing credits include Listen, A Black Woman is Speaking by Marlow Wyatt (2023, Project Arts Centre), The King of All Birds by Martha Knight (2023, Project Arts Centre), endings. by Fionntán Larney (2023, Project Arts Centre and Smock Alley Theatre),  Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (2022, The Lir Academy), Reflections by Joy Nesbitt and Pedro Pacheco (2022, The Lir Academy), Canonical by Scout Black (2022, Smock Alley Theatre), Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute (2021, Harvard University); R+J: An Ultramodern Fantasia by William Shakespeare (2020, Harvard Univeristy); God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza (2020, Harvard University); Dreamgirls by Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen (2020, American Repertory Theatre); Mamma Mia (2019, American Repertory Theatre); and A Very Potter Musical (2018, American Repertory Theatre). She has assisted on productions by Ronan Phelan, Dan Colley and Tom Creed. Joy has also written three full plays: Good, Julius Caesar Variety Show,  and Meditations on Somebodiness.
 

ABOUT CORRIB THEATRE

Corrib Theatre's mission is to bring Irish playwrights' unique perspective on oppression and empowerment, and conflict and resolution, to Portland in order to change our world for the better.

Corrib Theatre engages, inspires, entertains, and challenges audiences with theatrical productions dealing with universal issues filtered through the Irish experience. We celebrate Ireland's dramatic transformation in the recent decades of the 21st century and its emergence as a world leader in social and progressive arenas. We foster a diverse theatre community in our artists and patrons, including the LGBTQ, Deaf, disability, immigrant, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated communities, and celebrate the essential power of the theatre to illuminate our common humanity. We draw on Ireland's history of colonialism, genocide, famine, and immigration and its post-independence systems of oppression, inequality, and misogyny, and through dramatic presentations spark recognition, raise awareness, and create discussion which can lead to action and change.
 

Photo credit: Owen Carey

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