Little Gem Off-Broadway Original Cast

One year can bring extraordinary change; just ask Amber, Lorraine and Kay, three generations of North Dublin women who find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected. Young Amber’s case of indigestion – or perhaps it’s a brutal hangover? – grows into something more, while her mother Lorraine discovers salsa dancing after an incident at work leads to therapist-suggested self-care. Grandmother Kay, “on the wrong side of sixty, but not dead yet,” struggles to take care of a personal itch while adjusting to life as a caretaker for her beloved Gem. As the year moves forward, the women confront their individual challenges with courage and humor, finding strength in one another and discovering the beauty and complexity of family.

Hilarious and poignant, Irish playwright Elaine Murphy’s debut play, Little Gem, premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2008 where it won the Fishamble New Writing Award. It then transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the festival’s top prize. Little Gem made its acclaimed US premiere in January of 2010 at the Flea Theater.