HAUGHEY/GREGORY to be Presented at Burning Coal Theatre Company

Burning Coal Theatre Company will present Colin Murphy's Haughey/Gregory, directed by Flora Bare. Haughey/Gregory will run October 14-23, 2024, at the Murphey School, located at 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC 27604. Performances are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students.

Tickets and additional information can be found at www.burningcoal.org or by calling the box office at (919) 834-4001.

About Haughey/Gregory 

“The Gregory Deal” has become one of the most fascinating and unprecedented untold footnotes of Irish politics and Haughey/Gregory looks to examine how a youthful upstart, a minor player in Dublin politics, found himself the most powerful man in Ireland.  The play deals with Tony Gregory who, in 1982 and after seeing plans for the demolition of his poverty-stricken hometown, small-town politician Tony Gregory makes an unusual rise in politics, shockingly becoming a member of Parliament as an independent.  Once in Parliament, Gregory casually calculates the various factions (who's on who's side) and comes to the startling conclusion that the two powerful sides are exactly and evenly divided, leaving him the deciding vote.  Now courted by both major nominees Fitzgerald and Haughey, Gregory meets with both big-time politicians trying to figure out how to best leverage his newfound power and satisfy his desire to do right for “the little guy.”

About Colin Murphy 

Colin Murphy writes plays about politics, and journalism. He is the author of a series of plays on Irish political history: Haughey/Gregory, on the 1982 "Gregory Deal”, Inside the GPO, on the Easter Uprising, Guaranteed!, on the bank guarantee of 2008, and Bailed Out!, on the subsequent crisis and Troika “bailout” of 2010, all produced by Fishamble. He adapted the latter two for screen, as The Guarantee and The Bailout (both produced by John Kelleher Media). He adapted the Charlie Bird book A Day in May for the stage. His verbatim dramas , Jack Duggan's War and Judging Shaw (based on Fintan O'Toole's book of the same name) have been staged by ANU Productions. His short film Leave to Remain was made for RTÉ Storyland (produced by Treasure Entertainment). He writes a weekly column for the Sunday Business Post.

About Flora Bare

Flora Bare is a director, performer, educator and creator of theatre and circus arts with a focus on the collaborative process. She has her Master of Fine Arts degree in Physical Theatre from The London International School of Performing Arts. Flora is a former nine time All-American and National Champion collegiate gymnast and Cal Aggie Hall of Fame inductee from the University of California, Davis. She is a recent recipient of the Kennedy Center 2024 American College Theatre Festival Citizen Artist Award for her direction of ‘Ricochet', with the Charlotte based company, Nouveau Sud. You can read more about her work at: florabarearts.com

About the Cast

The cast features, in the title roles, Burning Coal regular Preston Campbell (The Life of Galileo, Art, Nine Lives) as Tony Gregory, and Raleigh theatre favorite Dan Oliver as Charles Haughey. Rounding out the ensemble of the cast, familiar and new faces Laurel Ullman, Margaret Ellen Christensen, and Andrew Price Carlile play a multitude of over 15 characters in this non-stop show!

About the Team

Chris Popowich of Pittsburgh will serve as the Lighting Designer. Costumes and props will be handled by Raleigh's Lynda Clark. Barry Jaked of Wake Forest will double as the Technical Director as well as the Master Electrician. Juan Isler of Raleigh will serve as the Sound Designer.

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County. Additional support is provided by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

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