by: Dion Boucicault
directed by: Charlotte Moore
April 21 – June 12, 2011
Against a background ripe with the intrigue of the secret Fenian Uprising in Ireland in 1866, Dion Boucicault, the undisputed master of melodrama, unravels his comic masterpiece, The Shaughran, which springs to life once again on The Irish Repertory Theatre’s stage.
Desperate forbidden passions! Beautiful damsels in distress! Swashbuckling swordplay! Mustachioed villains! Lots of kissing, and a charismatic hero whose fiddle is the soul of every fair and the life of every funeral…also a dog. Caution: Gaelic spoken here!
“A LIVELY, LOVING PRODUCTION. Eager to entertain, “The Shaughraun” (1874) is one of those sturdy theatrical vehicles that’s HARD TO RESIST. The play has healthy doses of comedy mixed in with the melodrama. There’s also action — fights! a jailbreak! — plenty of romance, a bit of singing and dancing, a dog, plots and counterplots, and characters pulled from the trunk of dramatic types: a dastardly villain, a strapping hero. IT’S TERRITORY THAT THE IRISH REP HAS A CLEAR FONDNESS FOR. THAT FONDNESS SHINES THROUGH.” – The New York Times
“A THROROUGHLY ENJOYABLE, ROLLICKING COMEDIC REVIVAL. The excellent ensemble acting makes for fine storytelling in true Irish fashion.” – AP
CRITICS PICK!
“Patrick Fitzgerald brings out the lovable rogue in Conn O’Kelly. Sean Gormley and Tim Ruddy are eminently hissable villains, while Terry Donnelly and Emma O’Donnell earn laughs as Conn’s lively mother and his equally feisty girlfriend. Kevin O’Donnell avoids heroic clichés as the wronged but noble convict, and Katie Fabel is appropriately fiery as his betrothed. Especially amusing are Mark Shanahan, as a stuffy but decent British officer, and Allison Jean White, as an Irish lass who finds herself attracted to the officer despite her Anglophobia. The playful push-pull of their romantic scenes is the highlight of this rambunctious revival.”- Backstage
“A RARE AND WORTHWHILE PRODUCTION at the always-pioneering Irish Repertory Theatre.”
– Theatermania
“It’s hard not to be swept up in the adventure story that Boucicault weaves, and to smile and slap your knee at each smartly conceived twist in the plot. The Irish Repertory Theatre is to be commended for producing The Shaughraun, which is well worth reviving and A GREAT DEAL OF FUN”
– nytheatre.com
“A STIRRING AND FREQUENTLY HILARIOUS NEW PRODUCTION.” – Irish Voice
“THERE’S NEVER A DULL MOMENT. A VERY LIVELY, VERY IRISH EVENING.” – Epoch Times