O'Casey Season

In the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

Irish Repertory Theatre Presents
New Works Summer Festival
Readings of 5 plays in 5 days, Spotlighting LGBTQ+ voices

Drip Feed by Karen Cogan, ERIS by John King, Once Before I Go by Phillip McMahon, Irishtown by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, and Motherland by May Treuhaft-Ali

Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey and Colm Summers

June 20 – June 24, 2023

Irishtown | June 20, 2023 at 7pm
ERIS | June 21, 2023 at 7pm
Drip Feed | June 22, 2023 at 7pm
Motherland | June 23, 2023 at 7pm
Once Before I Go | June 24, 2023 at 7pm*

*On June 24, join us onsite for a pre-reading happy hour starting at 5:30pm! 

Tickets for these readings are free with a suggested donation of $10.

Please note masks will be optional for this event.

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The inaugural New Works Summer Festival is part of Irish Repertory Theatre’s New Play Development Program, which 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 Irish Rep to discover new plays and musicals for future production.

Inspired by correspondence of fact and fiction that’s stood the test of time, The Letters Series explores the thrill of witnessing great relationships unfold and sometimes shape our history in an age of instant communication. Dear Liar and Love Letters allow us to look “behind the curtain” and examine the universal.

The Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

by Sean O’Casey
directed by Charlotte Moore

“I cannot begin to catalog its virtues… The Plough and the Stars is the kind of show whose unflinching honesty will leave you open-mouthed with awe.” – The Wall Street Journal

With Úna Clancy, Terry Donnelly, Rory Duffy, Meg Hennessy, John Keating, Robert Langdon Lloyd, Ed Malone, Michael Mellamphy, Clare O’Malley, Adam Petherbridge, Maryann Plunkett, James Russell, Harry Smith, and Sarah Street

April 20 – June 22, 2019

Pretty young newlywed Nora Clitheroe is the talk of her tenement as she tirelessly works to lift her family out of their impoverished circumstances. She tries to keep her husband Jack from the revolutionary fervor sweeping through Dublin. But Jack becomes a Commandant in the Irish Citizen Army, and when the Easter Rising of 1916 begins, he leaves a pregnant Nora to help lead the fight. The disparate, quarrelsome tenement residents are forced to shelter together as urban warfare makes their home nearly as treacherous as the streets. Passions and ideals rise and converge, but in the end, loss and devastation triumph over the promise of a new Ireland.

This powerful play is widely hailed as O’Casey’s most complex and masterful work. Its premiere at the Abbey Theatre in 1926 was met with riots condemning O’Casey’s negative portrayal of the recent revolution and its heros. However, the play was otherwise successful, receiving wide acclaim both in Ireland and abroad. Drawing from his own childhood and experiences with the Irish labor movement and in the Irish Citizen Army, The Plough and the Stars is among O’Casey’s most autobiographical works.

The Plough and the Stars inspired the first collaboration between Irish Rep founders Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly, and in 1988, it was Irish Rep’s first production. It was staged once more at Irish Rep in 1997. Both productions were directed by Charlotte Moore. We are delighted to return to the play that started it all for our 30th anniversary season.

The Plough and the Stars (1926), along with The Shadow of a Gunman (1923) and Juno and the Paycock (1924) make up Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy (or Dublin Plays), presented here in repertory as Irish Rep’s O’Casey Cycle, which established O’Casey as one of the major figures in modern drama. These masterpieces introduced O’Casey’s innovative playwriting style, which balances deeply comic and tragic elements in an atmosphere of stark realism. These plays premiered during a time of revolution and civil strife throughout Ireland, proving both provocative and popular, and establishing O’Casey’s legacy among the most influential and enduring playwrights in history. This spring, don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Sean O’Casey’s full Dublin Trilogy – subscribe to the O’Casey Cycle!

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“A riveting production” – Newsweek

“outstanding… the cast is exceptional” – Theatermania

★★★★ “[Maryann] Plunkett, always a powerhouse, gives the performance of a lifetime.” – Time Out New York

★★★★★ “a masterful production… The Plough and the Stars throbs with robust life… It’s not merely a pleasure so much as a downright privilege to see The Plough and the Stars and its companion dramas produced as astutely as they’re staged here.” – New York Stage Review – Michael Sommers

★★★★★ “See this production for several reasons: because it’s O’Casey in rep being put on by one of New York’s most vibrant off-broadway companies; because it has something to say about what is happening in our society today; because MaryAnn Plunkett’s talent will make you feel compassion for someone you thought you despised.” – New York Theatre Guide

★★★★★ “a must-see… played by a flawless troupe” – New York Stage Review – David Finkle

“timeless and heartfelt” – Talkin’ Broadway

 

The Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

by Sean O’Casey
directed by Neil Pepe

With Una Clancy, Terry Donnelly, Rory Duffy, Meg Hennessy, John Keating, Robert Langdon Lloyd, Ed Malone, Michael Mellamphy, Ciarán O’Reilly, Maryann Plunkett, James Russell, Harry Smith, and Sarah Street

“a perfect introduction to the Irish Repertory Theatre…New York’s best off-Broadway theater troupe” – The Wall Street Journal

“this Juno is Irish Rep’s best at its best” – Newsweek

March 9 – June 22, 2019

Jack Boyle is out of work and determined to stay that way. He postures and drinks with his sidekick Joxer while his long-suffering wife Juno struggles to support their family and maintain their dilapidated tenement flat. Their son Johnny, crippled fighting in the revolution, cowers indoors to avoid the bitter new civil war, while his sister Mary considers her options for the future. When a handsome visitor arrives with news of an inheritance, the family begins to plan their new life, but their apparent salvation soon reveals itself to be the cause of their ruin. One of the great plays of the twentieth century, Juno and the Paycock is a devastating portrait of wasted potential in a Dublin torn apart by the chaos of the Irish Civil War.

Premiering in 1924, just one year after Sean O’Casey’s professional debut, Juno and the Paycock became the first play at The Abbey Theatre to run for more than one week. Its success allowed O’Casey to quit his road repair job and became a full-time writer at age 44. It has since become one of his most frequently performed plays and has been adapted several times, including into a 1930 film by Alfred Hitchcock and a 1959 Broadway musical entitled Juno. Irish Repertory Theatre has presented Juno and the Paycock twice previously (1995 & 2014), both directed by Charlotte Moore.

Juno and the Paycock (1924), along with The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), and The Plough and the Stars (1926) make up Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy (or Dublin Plays), presented here in repertory as Irish Rep’s O’Casey Cycle, which established O’Casey as one of the major figures in modern drama. These masterpieces introduced O’Casey’s innovative playwriting style, which balances deeply comic and tragic elements in an atmosphere of stark realism. These plays premiered during a time of revolution and civil strife throughout Ireland, proving both provocative and popular, and establishing O’Casey’s legacy among the most influential and enduring playwrights in history. This spring, don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Sean O’Casey’s full Dublin Trilogy – subscribe to the O’Casey Cycle!

BUY TICKETS

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE!

“entertaining…performed by a dynamic cast…Pepe’s take feels fresh and relevant while remaining faithful to O’Casey’s nearly 100-year-old play.” – Theatermania

★★★★ “a gem of Irish realism, expertly transitioning from humorous banter to life-altering epiphanies” – Time Out New York

★★★★★ “superb, searing revival” – Elysa Gardner, New York Stage Review

“Only someone with a heart of stone will fail to be deeply moved” – CurtainUp (spoiler warning)

★★★★ “heart-thumping, heart-breaking… well-done productions confirm first-rate writing. This Juno and the Paycock hits that high mark.” – David Finkle, New York Stage Review

★★★★★  “This focus on O’Casey’s body of work is a true gift the Irish Rep is giving us all” – New York Theatre Guide (spoiler warning)

“a resounding winner” with “performances of award-winning caliber” – Theater Pizzazz (spoiler warning)

“a family story that will make you laugh and shed a tear… superbly performed… and directed with care.” – Third Coast Review

“resound[s] with a riveting ferocity” – Simon Seez

“a gem of a revival… with some truly unforgettable performances…both funny and strikingly moving” – From the Orchestra

“a hard and beautiful play, and Neil Pepe’s staging… is lovely” – Stage Voices

The Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

by Sean O’Casey
directed by Ciarán O’Reilly

With Una Clancy, Terry Donnelly, Rory Duffy, Meg Hennessy, John Keating, Robert Langdon Lloyd, Ed Malone, Michael Mellamphy, Adam Petherbridge, James Russell, and Harry Smith

**Critic’s Pick!** “The Shadow of a Gunman is a comedy that goes bang!” – The New York Times

“A stunning revival” – The Wall Street Journal

“a potent, moving mixture of comedy and tragedy, satire and polemics, cynicism and romance” – The New Yorker

January 30 – June 22, 2019

It’s 1920, and the Irish War of Independence rages on the streets of Dublin as Irish revolutionaries clash with British auxiliary forces. Aspiring poet Donal Davoren tries to avoid the conflict, but when Donal learns of a rumor that he is a gunman on the run, he cannot resist the curiosity it stirs in beautiful young Minnie Powell… and he cannot escape the attention of his other neighbors. As the rumor grows, the war outside moves closer to home with tragic consequences.

The Shadow of a Gunman premiered at The Abbey Theatre in 1923 to immediate success, selling out tickets for the first time in Abbey history, and establishing Sean O’Casey’s career as a playwright at age 43. The first of The Dublin Plays, this two-act work is written in O’Casey’s characteristic tragicomic style. Although it is widely considered a masterpiece, it is lesser-known than the later two Dublin Plays. Irish Rep is proud to open the O’Casey Season with this compelling work, last seen in our theater in 1999.

The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), along with Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926) together make up Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy (or Dublin Plays), presented here in repertory as Irish Rep’s O’Casey Cycle, which established O’Casey as one of the major figures in modern drama. These masterpieces introduced O’Casey’s innovative playwriting style, which balances deeply comic and tragic elements in an atmosphere of stark realism. These plays premiered during a time of revolution and civil strife throughout Ireland, proving both provocative and popular, and establishing O’Casey’s legacy among the most influential and enduring playwrights in history. This spring, don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Sean O’Casey’s full Dublin Trilogy – subscribe to the O’Casey Cycle!

BUY TICKETS

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE!

**Critic’s Pick!** “Irish Rep remains one of the most reliable places to enjoy rowdy, all-in character acting, and it’s here in plenty… At nearly 100 years old, O’Casey’s play still packs heat.” – The New York Times

“a major artistic achievement…a stunning revival” by “New York’s foremost off-Broadway troupe” – The Wall Street Journal

“thrilling…superbly performed…as excellent a production of the play as you’re ever likely to see.” – Theatermania

“O’Casey is one of Ireland and the world’s great playwrights, and his talent is on full display in this taut, swiftly paced production.” – Newsweek

The Shadow of a Gunman features “an embarrassment of riches from lead to bit player” – Time Out New York