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Written by Paul Muldoon
Read by Liev Schreiber
Music by Lenny Pickett

On December 1, 2020, Irish Repertory Theatre premiered a reading of Plaguey Hill, a new work by Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, read by Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber. Written over the first two weeks of April 2020, “Plaguey Hill” is an impressionistic account of day-to-day life during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though the poem is set in Sharon Springs, New York, it harkens back to memories of the burial mound of Plaguey Hill, in Friars Bush graveyard, Belfast, where victims of the 1830s cholera epidemic were laid to rest. The poem takes the form of an intricately locked series of 15 sonnets known as a crown, or corona.

To watch this digital event on your SmartTV via the Youtube app, type in “Irish Rep” or the name of the event to your search bar on the app.

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Part 1: A Beggar Upon Horseback: The Context, From Frederick Douglass to Today

Part 2: A Beggar on Foot: Creating Change in Irish Arts

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

Hurray for revolution and more canon shot! 
A beggar upon horseback lashs a beggar on foot 
Hurray for revolution and canon come again, 
The beggars have changed places but the lash goes on  
– WB Yeats                                                                                

Part 1: A Beggar Upon Horseback: The Context, From Frederick Douglass to Today
Featuring a dramatic reading by John Douglas Thompson of Frederick Douglass’s “Letter from Belfast”

On November 9, 2020, Irish Repertory Theatre marked the 175^th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s historic trip to Ireland with a dramatic reading by award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson of Douglass’s Letter from Belfast, written on January 1, 1846. In this letter, Douglass recounts his impressions of the Irish people, describing “warm and generous co-operation.”

The reading was followed by a panel led by Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey in which scholars and writers of Irish-American and African-American history discussed the emigration of the Irish to America, and the complexity of Black and Irish interactions in the American experience: sometimes as allies and sometimes as aggressors. This conversation spanned the infamous Draft Riots of 1863 to Irish-America as we know it today.

A Beggar Upon Horseback: The Context, From Frederick Douglass to Today, was introduced by Consul General of Ireland, Ciarán Madden, and featured a dramatic reading by John Douglas Thompson (The Emperor Jones) of Frederick Douglass’s “Letter from Belfast” followed by a panel led by Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey featuring Professor Westenley Alcenat and Peter Quinn. This conversation explored the complexity of Black and Irish interactions in the American experience.

Part 2: A Beggar on Foot: Creating Change in Irish Arts

After exploring the complex intersections of Irish-American and African-American history on Day 1, the second day of discussion centered on the role of race in Irish arts and ended with a conversation on the role of Irish cultural institutions in the push for racial equity.

A Beggar on Foot: Creating Change in Irish Arts will feature speakers Carletta Downs (Origin Theatre Company), Grace Odumosu, Lenwood Sloan, Lisa Fane (Irish Rep), Rachael Gilkey (Irish Arts Center), George Heslin (New York Irish Center), Ellen McCourt (Irish Rep), and John Waters (Glucksman Ireland House NYU).

In lieu of payment to watch this event, Irish Repertory Theatre encourages all viewers to donate to the Equal Justice Initiative. Donate here.

Read the Letter from Belfast by Frederick Douglass here.

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Featuring Gregory Harrington
with Eleanor Norton and Philip Sheegog

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

Every year, acclaimed Irish violinist Gregory Harrington takes over the Irish Rep stage to present an eclectic and intimate musical evening of unique interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs. These annually sold-out events are a highlight every Spring at Irish Rep, but in 2020 the concert was canceled due to COVID-19.

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A conversation with playwright Darren Murphy, director Caitríona McLaughlin, and the cast of The Gifts You Gave to the Dark: Marty Rea, Seán McGinley, and Marie Mullen, with Irish Rep co-founders, Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly.

MUSIC: CARL KENNEDY

DARREN MURPHY

Darren is Belfast based and an Associate Playwright at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, where he has also taught. He is currently working towards a Creative Practice PhD in Playwriting at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he also teaches playwriting. Plays include: Many Mansions (Abbey Theatre commission); Bunny’s Vendetta (commissioned for the inaugural UK City of Culture, Derry, 2013); Irish Blood, English Heart, Trafalgar Studios (London’s West End); Tabloid Caligula, Arcola, London/E59E, NY, for the Brits Off-Broadway Festival); The Flats, Chelsea Theatre (shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award), and A Road in Winter, Soho (Westminster Prize). He is represented by Nick Quinn at The Agency, and is published by Oberon.

CAITRIONA MCLAUGHLIN

Caitríona is currently Associate Director of The Abbey Theatre, Ireland where she will direct Marina Carr’s six hour play cycle The Boy for The Abbey and Dublin Theatre Festival. In 2020 she was also planning to direct Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seragilo for Irish National Opera and create a production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars with a community cast from the East Wall region of Dublin to be performed on The Abbey Stage, both have been cancelled because of Covid-19. Caitriona has directed primarily in London, Dublin, and New York. Recent productions at the Abbey include On Raftery’s Hill (Best Director, 2019 Irish Times Theatre Awards), Citysong by Dylan Coburn Grey (ITTA nomination Best New Play), Two Pints by Roddy Doyle, Josephine K and The Algorithms by Stacey Gregg and Monsters Dinosaurs Ghosts by Jimmy McAleavey. Projects elsewhere include This Hostel Life by Melatu Uchenna Okorie and Evangelia Rigaki for Irish National Opera, Blood in the Dirt by Rory Gleeson for Landmark Productions, Autumn Royal, by Kevin Barry, and Foyle Punt for The LocalGroup. Opera includes Vaughan Williams Riders to the Sea, and Lennox Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement, both for Wexford Opera. Banished by Stephen McNeff, lll Ballo delle Ingrate, Monteverdi and Scipio’s Dream, by Judith Weir for The Royal Irish Academy of Music. Work with youth and emerging theatre artists includes,  directing and teaching at; The Lir Academy Dublin, and Mountview Drama School, London. Associate Director of The Playground Studio, London and Education Director at Theatre Peckham, London. She also work with Judith Weir (Current Master of the Queens Music) and Spark Opera Belfast on the development of 2 new operas for young people.

MARTY REA

Epiphany, DruidShakespeare – Richard II (Irish Times Best Actor), King of the Castle, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting For Godot (Herald Angel Award/ Edinburgh fringe Festival), DruidShakespeare – The Henriad Cycle, Brigit, Be Infants in Evil, The Colleen Bawn, DruidMurphy – Three Plays by Tom Murphy (Druid Theatre, Galway) The Glass Menagerie, Beginning, The Great Gatsby, Juno and the Paycock, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Caretaker, An Ideal Husband, My Cousin Rachel, Little Women, Hay Fever, Salomé, The Glass Menagerie, Arcadia (Gate Theatre, Dublin) Thirst (and other bits of Flann), Othello, She Stoops To Conquer, The Hanging Gardens, Major Barbara, John Gabriel Borkman, The Rivals, Only An Apple, An Ideal Husband, The Big House, Saved, The Importance of Being Earnest (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) Improbable Frequency (E59 Street Theatre, New York); Pentecost, Spokesong (The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Rough Magic Theatre Co., Dublin) Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Hamlet (Irish Times Best Actor) (Second Age Theatre Co.), Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Livin’ Dred Theatre Co. and NOMAD Theatre Network), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (ART NI).

SEAN MCGINLEY

Sean McGinley was born in Donegal and graduated from University College Galway and was a member of the Druid Theatre Company from 1977-1989.  Plays included The Playboy of the Western World, Conversations on a Homecoming, Famine by Tom Murphy, The Glass Menagerie, A Touch of the Poet, Loot, Endgame along with Geography of a Horsedreamer and Action, both by Sam Shepard. Other theatre includes The Iceman Cometh, The Power of Darkness, The Shaughraun, The Corsican Brothers, A Whistle in the Dark (Irish Theatre Award and Time Out London Award) – all at the Abbey Theatre and most recently Ages of the Moon by Sam Shepard at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin and the Atlantic Theater, New York, with Stephen Rea. Television credits include; “Family” (BBC) “Who Bombed Birmingham” (Granada); “The Street” (Ch.4), “Bleak House” (BBC), “Minder”, “Taggart”, “Waking the Dead”, “The Vice”, “Cold Feet”, “Midsomer Murders” and “New Tricks” and “Love/Hate” Films include: “The Field”, “Michael Collins”, “The Butcher Boy”, “Braveheart”, “Trojan Eddie”, “The General”, “The Tiger’s Tail”, The Claim”, “Dead Bodies”, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”, “The Tiger’s Tail”, “Simon Magus”, “The Closer You Get” and “On A Clear Day” (IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature film).

MARIE MULLEN

Crestfall, Sive, The Beauty Queen of Lehane, Druid Shakespeare, Brigit, Bailegangáire, The Colleen Bawn, Conversations on a Homecoming (Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress), Famine, The Cripple of Inishmaan, DruidSynge (Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Actress; Herald Angel Award/ Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Playboy of the Western World, The Beauty Queen of Lehane (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role).

on Breaking Barriers in Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones

With John Douglas Thompson and Obi Abili
In Discussion with Ciarán O’Reilly

Eugene O’Neill evolved as the first major American playwright to address the problem of racism in the United States. He despised the discrepancies between the image America projected – a democracy based on equality and justice for all – and what he really saw as a racially divided land of gross inequality. At Irish Repertory Theatre, John Douglas Thompson and Obi Abili both memorably played the title role in O’Neill’s provocative and controversial play in separate productions. With director Ciarán O’Reilly, they discuss the complexities of exploring this 1920 play that exposed the painful truths that America is still grappling with 100 years later.

The Emperor Jones, Spring 2017, with Obi Abili

The Emperor Jones, Fall/ Winter 2009/10, with John Douglas Thompson

JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON

Broadway: King Lear, Becker in August Wilson’s Jitney (Tony nomination), A Time To Kill, Cyrano de Bergerac, Julius Caesar. Off-Broadway: Julius Caesar at Public Theater, The Iceman Cometh at BAM (Obie and Drama Desk Awards); Tamburlaine at Theater for a New Audience (Obie, Drama Desk and AUDELCO Awards ) ; Satchmo at the Waldorf (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and NAACP Awards) at the Westside Theater, King Lear , Macbeth (title role); Othello (Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Joe A. Callaway Award) at TFANA; The Forest at Classic Stage Company; The Emperor Jones at Irish Repertory Theatre (Joe A. Callaway Award and Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations); Hedda Gabler at New York Theatre Workshop. Regional credits: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Mark Taper
Forum (Ovation Award); Antony and Cleopatra at Hartford Stage; Red Velvet, Othello , Richard III , King Lear, and Mother Courage at Shakespeare & Co; Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train at The Wilma Theater (Barrymore Award) and productions at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, American Repertory Theater and Yale Repertory Theatre. His television and film credits include: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, “Wolves”, “Bull”, “Person of Interest”, “Madam Secretary”, “Law & Order”, “Conviction”, “Bourne Legacy”, “Glass Chin”, “Michael Clayton”, “Malcolm X”. Upcoming films: “21 Bridges”, “355”, and “Let Them All Talk”. John is a Fox Fellow recipient, has received the Samuel H. Scripps Award, and the Robert Brustein Award for sustained excellence in American theater.

OBI ABILI

Obi Abili is a stage, film and television actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (RADA) and was named as a “Star of Tomorrow” by Screen International in 2010 and ‘an actor to watch” by IndieWire in the same year. He recently came off a supporting role in the upcoming Feature Film “21 Bridges”, opposite Chadwick Boseman and JK Simmons as well as the feature “London Fields”, opposite Amber Heard and Billy Bob Thornton. He also had a leading role in the feature film “Tula: The Revolt” opposite Danny Glover and was also seen opposite Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz in “Gambit”. Obi was a regular on the UK miniseries “The Take” with Tom Hardy, “Injustice” with James Purefoy, “Moses Jones” with Eamonn Walker and “The Nativity” with Tatiana Maslany. He recurred on Showtime’s “Billions” and guest starred on Cinemax’s “Strike Back”, NBC’s “Blindspo”t and BBC’s “Foyle’s War”. Obi recently starred in the Irish Rep’s production of The Emperor Jones. He also starred opposite Juliette Binoche in Ivo van Hove’s production of Antigone at BAM. He has also been involved as recently involved in a 12 week Theatre of War run of Antigone in Ferguson, a production that highlighted the current issue of police brutality and systemic racism in the United States. Actors in that project included David Straitharn, David Zayas, Chad Coleman, Amy Ryan, Zach Grenier and many others.

CIARÁN O’REILLY

Favorite directing credits include: Lady G: Plays and Whisperings of Lady Gregory, Dublin Carol, The Shadow of a Gunman, The Seafarer, The Dead, 1904, Shining City, Off the Meter, On the Record, The Weir (Calloway Nom.), Banished Children of Eve, The Emperor Jones, (Callaway Award, O’Neill Credo Award, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Nom.), The Hairy Ape (Drama Desk Drama League and Callaway Nom.), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Drama Desk Nom). Irish Rep acting roles include Da, Juno and the Paycock, Dancing at Lughnasa, Molly Sweeney, Candida, Aristocrats, A Whistle in the Dark, The Shaughraun, and The Irish and How They Got That Way. He appeared in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of A Touch of the Poet with Gabriel Byrne. He has appeared at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and made his Broadway debut in The Corn is Green. Films include “The Devil’s Own” (starring Harrison Ford), “Law & Order,” “The Irish…and How They Got That Way,” “Third Watch,” “Bored to Death,” and “The Knick.” Ciarán has recently been inducted in to the Irish America Hall of Fame and has been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, 2019 by President Michael D. Higgins.