Irish Repertory Theatre’s New Play Development Program includes table reads, staged readings, workshops and commissions from voices that fulfill Irish Rep’s mission and tell stories of Irish and Irish-American people of all races, genders, abilities, and orientations. The program will provide opportunities for playwrights to further develop their work and enable us to discover new plays and musicals for future production.
“We are committed to this journey and believe this is the best path to showcase the incredible new work being created by Irish and Irish-American playwrights. At the same time, we must continue to focus on change and equity on our stages and behind the scenes. We’ve spent 18 months evaluating all aspects of our organization, and while there is always more work to be done, we are confident this new play-development program will be a good next step. We are eager to work with young artists to develop exciting new work. As we continue to broaden our understanding of what it is to be Irish, you will see more diversity in our casts, creative teams, staff, and playwrights. We are proud to announce the launch of our play-development program, and we hope you will join us.“ – Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly, Fall 2021
Previous New Work Development at Irish Rep
2022/2023 Transatlantic Commissions Program in collaboration with Fishamble: The New Play Company, featuring work by Felispeaks, Kwaku Fortune, Jade Jordan, and CN Smith
2022 Staged Readings of The Love Parts by Derek Murphy, The Dark Things by Ursula Rani Sarma, Hecuba by Marina Carr and Lally The Scut by Abbie Spallen
2022 Workshop of I and The Village by Darren Donohue
2021 Staged Readings of Belfast Girls by Jaki McCarrick, Playboy of The Western World by Bisi Adigun and Roddy Doyle (adapted from J.M Synge), and An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde by Tom Holcomb (adapted from Oscar Wilde)
Currently in Development
We are proud to partner with Ace Pictures and Irish Folklore Tours to create Only Connect. This feature-length performance/documentary is Mick Moloney and Lenwood Sloan’s story and was inspired by their great show Two Roads Diverged: Irish & African American Common Grounds through Music, Dance, & Humor. Together, from very different perspectives, they reveal the hidden history, and parts of our national narrative that most people know little about. This production will be available from Irish Repertory Theatre’s streaming platform in March 2022, followed by worldwide distribution.
Visit this page for future updates on new play development at Irish Rep