Irish Repertory Theatre

Irish Drama.
New York Style.

1999-2000 Season

The Hostage

by Brendan Behan
directed by Charlotte Moore

October 20 – December 31, 2000

The Hostage depicts the events leading up to the planned execution of an 18-year-old IRA member in a Belfast jail, accused of killing an Ulster policeman.  The action of the play is set in a very odd house of ill-repute on Nelson Street, Dublin, owned by a former IRA commandant. The hostage of the title is Leslie Williams, a young and innocent Cockney British soldier taken at the border with Northern Ireland and held in the brothel, brought among the vibrant but desperately unorthodox combination of prostitutes, revolutionaries and general low characters inhabiting the place.

“a rare opportunity to discover an important figure of Irish culture and to lift one’s spirits with a bawdy, blistering hodgepodge of melody, comedy, suspense, and inspired silliness.” -TheaterMania

Creative Team:
Scenic Design: Eugene Lee
Costume Design: Linda Fisher
Lighting Design: Gregory Cohen
Musical Director: Mark Hartman

Don Juan in Hell

donjuanby George Bernard Shaw
directed by Charlotte Moore

August 15 – September 17, 2000

Don Juan was originally the third act dream sequence of Man and Superman, but has been broken out as its own piece, separate of the 1903 comedy of the sexes. In Don Juan, the banished souls have nothing but time on their hands, so Don Juan converses with the Devil on a wide range of subjects with interjections from a woman he once seduced and a man he killed.

The Devil, of course, defends those hedonistic amenities, whereas Juan, a true Shavian, wants none of them and heads for a thinker’s Heaven. The Commander, who had become the Statue, and Doña Ana, the Lady par excellence, make their own idiosyncratic contributions to the great debate.

“Ms. Moore’s cast of actors are veteran pros who bring considerable technical expertise to the undertaking, and Shaw could not ask for more poised advocates.” –The New York Times

“Shaw’s metaphysical drollery and acrobatic repartee come unsquelchably through.” –New York Magazine

Our Lady of Sligo

ourladyby Sebastian Barry
directed by Max Stanfford-Clark

April 12 – June 4, 2000

  • Drama Desk Nom., “Best Actress” – Sinead Cusack, Our Lady of Sligo
  • Outer Critic Nom., “Best Actress” – Sinead Cusack, Our Lady of Sligo

From her hospital bed in 1950’s Dublin, Mai O’Hara recalls her life through morphine-induced memories and hallucinations. Dying of liver cancer caused by alcoholism, Mai reminisces on her youthful promise as a member of the Galway bourgeoisie; the death of one of her children; and of the marriage fueled by liquor, bickering, and remorse, to her husband, Jack who visits her on occasion as does her daughter, Joanie. Jack’s visits to her bedside are a testament to the mutual hatred they share and the mutual dependence they have on each other. Through it all, Mai uses her mordant wit and vanity to pull her out of painful realizations. Once the first woman in Sligo to wear trousers, Mai emerges not only the victim of a broken marriage but a victim of an Ireland in which the Catholic middle-class has been nullified by spiritual and political isolation after the Civil War

“a remarkable performance by Sinéad Cusack and a lyrical script” –Curtain Up

“Sebastian Barry has a bounteous gift for turning phrases and spinning tales, and he’s very generous with it in Our Lady of Sligo…spirited and affecting –Variety

 

The Country Boy

by John Murphy
directed by Charlotte Moore

February 22 – April 2, 2000

After 15 years in America, the “Yank” comes back home with an expensive camera in his pocket and an American wife on his arm. But has he fulfilled the emigrant dream of has he returned to prevent his younger brother form making the same mistakes? The play is set in a farm village in Western county Mayo, 1961, when the age was innocent, the time was simple, and maidens danced at the crossroads.

A grand ould chestnut of Irish theatrical history, The Country Boy will “bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye.”

“a quiet, old-fashioned play…like spending a few hours looking at a well-thumbed old family album.” -Curtain Up

Creative Team:
Set Design: David Raphel
Lighting Design: Gregory Cohen
Costume Design: David Toser
Sound Design: Murmod, Inc.

Eclipsed

eclipsedby Patricia Burke Brogan
directed by Charlotte Moore

October 26 – December 19, 1999

In Eclipsed, four unwed Irish mothers, whose children were taken from them and put up for adoption in foreign countries, are endeavoring to wash away their sins by working in a church-run, convent laundry facility, washing clothes all day long. Brogan drew from her own experiences working in one such laundry during the early 1960s.

“Sensitively directed by Charlotte Moore, the ensemble cast makes the characters’ highly charged emotions believable, born of a terrible desperation.” –The New York Times

“performed by a fine cast” –New York Magazine

Creative Team:
Set Design: Klara Zieglerova
Costume Design: Linda Fisher
Lighting Design: Kirk Bookman
Sound: Murmod Inc
Hair: Robert-Charles Vallance
Stage Manager: Casey Cook

invasions and legacies

invasionsIn the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

by Tommy Makem
directed by Charlotte Moore

September 27 – October 14, 1999

Makem’s show promises to tell the story of the Irish people through “music, song and poetry.” A solo artist for several years now, Makem came to prominence as a member of the Irish folksinging group, The Clancy Brothers. Appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and connections to the mid-60s Greenwich Village folk scene enhanced the group’s reputation in America. Makem sang and penned such standards as “Four Green Fields” and “Farewell to Carlingford.”

 

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