Irish Repertory Theatre

Irish Drama.
New York Style.

World Premiere

The Butcher Boy

A World Premiere of the New Musical
on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

Book, Music, & Lyrics by Asher Muldoon
Based on the novel by Patrick McCabe
Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly

Music Direction by David Hancock Turner
Choreography by Barry McNabb

July 21 – September 11, 2022

With David Baida, Nicholas Barasch, Carey Rebecca Brown, Joe Cassidy, Kerry Conte, Andrea Lynn Green, Daniel Marconi, Polly McKie, Michele Ragusa, Scott Stangland, Christian Strange, and Teddy Trice

“Muldoon has created a buoyantly engaging musical…miraculous…[Nicholas] Barasch is a young talent with a formidably bright future” — Charles Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal

“Good lord is it thrilling…a breakout performance that [Nicholas Barasch] gives himself over to completely” – IrishCentral

“When I was a young lad twenty or thirty or forty years ago, I lived in a small town where they were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs. Nugent.” — Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy

Growing up in a narrow-minded Irish village in the 1960s, young Francie Brady lives in a comic book dreamland with his parents and best friend Joe, but all that ends when the Nugents – mother and son – move to town. After the haughty Mrs. Nugent denounces the Brady family as “pigs,” a violent obsession enters Francie’s world and only builds as the life he loves crumbles around him. When he cannot fight the dark forces any longer, the story spins to a catastrophic conclusion.

The Butcher Boy is Patrick McCabe’s shattering masterpiece. Published in 1992, the novel was hailed as a modern classic and has remained in the Irish consciousness for decades. A 1997 film adaptation was directed by Neil Jordan and starred Fiona Shaw, Stephen Rea, and Sinéad O’Connor.

This musical adaptation is the first original musical in eight years to be developed by Irish Repertory Theatre. In 2017, high school senior Asher Muldoon (Dear Evan Hansen National Tour) approached Irish Rep with this adaptation, for which he had written a hypnotic score, smart lyrics, and a funny and moving book. In 2018, Irish Rep mounted a workshop and an enthusiastically received concert performance. We are thrilled to present the world premiere in 2022.

Read the performance program here!
Strobe lighting effects will be used in this production. This production may not be suitable for children under 14.

Click here for a Content Warning.

Watch the Trailer here:

“an anti-coming of age story…powerful” — The New York Times

“[Nicholas] Barasch is a fine singer and an energetic presence” — Ken Marks, The New Yorker

“It is a beautiful piece of theatre, a thought-provoking heartbreaking piece of theatre…a damn good piece of theater that will leave you pondering the story and characters for some time to come.” — Front Row Center

“all the earmarks of a future cult favorite…an impressive debut…perfectly staged to give everything a wonderfully mad, surrealistic perspective” — Talkin’ Broadway

“[Nicholas] Barasch unrestrainedly throws himself musically into the forbidding role” — New York Stage Review

“a solid, imaginative adaptation…the show strikes a balance between comedy and tragedy thanks to the excellent ensemble, clever choices, and striking set” — Show Biz

“a dark comedy of contrasts and pipe dreams…empathetically musicalized to highlight the ever-changing circumstances and emotional swings in this compelling adaptation of McCabe’s novel…Nicholas Barasch commands the stage.” —  Mark Kappel

Kingfishers Catch Fire

in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

By Robin Glendinning
Directed by Kent Paul

With Sean Gormley and Haskell King

“there’s never a dull moment…[in this] exhilarating world premiere” – Theatermania

Extended through October 27, 2019!

It’s 1948 when Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty first visits the infamous Nazi Herbert Kappler in the Italian prison where Kappler is serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity. During World War II, the men were adversaries; Kappler was the head of the Gestapo in German-occupied Rome, and Monsignor O’Flaherty was using the cover of Vatican neutrality to shelter and arrange for the escape of thousands of Allied servicemen and Jewish civilians. Kappler placed a bounty on O’Flaherty’s head, but O’Flaherty evaded capture, earning the nickname “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican.” When these two men meet after the war, profound questions of responsibility and redemption rattle the cages. Based on a true story, Kingfishers Catch Fire examines morality and personal culpability for actions taken during a devastating war.

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This is the world premiere of Kingfishers Catch Fire, inspired by the true story of Herbert Kappler and Monsignor O’Flaherty. Kingfishers Catch Fire received a staged reading in 2016 as part of the Irish Rep Reading Series.

“the most interesting new play in New York…thoughtful, provocative…cogent and fascinating” – Rex Reed, the New York Observer

“superbly staged and acted… a rare theatrical experience that will linger after the house lights go down.” – CurtainUp

Haskell King is “brilliant” and Sean Gormley is “superb” in this “twisty, provocative, disturbing play” – One Magazine

“academically and exquisitely written…You’ll find yourself moved and riveted.” – Theater Pizzazz

“Great acting, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Must see” – Show-Score member reviews. Score of 86 on Show-Score!

YES!
Reflections of Molly Bloom

FOR THE 2022 PRODUCTION OF YES! REFLECTIONS OF MOLLY BLOOM, SEE HERE.

From the novel Ulysses by James Joyce
Adapted for stage by Aedín Moloney & Colum McCann
Music by Paddy Moloney
Directed by Kira Simring

Performed by Aedín Moloney

World Premiere presented by
Irish Repertory Theatre,
in association with Gabriel Byrne
in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

“exuberant…an unforgettable affirmation of life and joy” – Theatermania

“a veering, vivid, ribald monologue expertly performed by Ms. Moloney” – The New York Times

June 7 – July 7, 2019

A daring theatrical journey into the mind and heart of James Joyce’s most sensual hero – a woman of women, a soul of souls, the indomitable Molly Bloom.

It is Ireland in the early hours of June 17th, 1904. Molly Bloom’s husband – the wandering philandering Leopold “Poldy” Bloom – has just come home & fallen asleep in their Dublin row house. Molly – a daughter, a mother, a lover and a long suffering wife – patrols the pathways of her wild and leaping consciousness. She is lustful. Scared. Exuberant. Heartbreakingly lonely. Vivaciously reckless. And profoundly funny.

With an empty nest, an unfulfilling affair and a marriage long past its prime, Molly must find a way back to the rock-bed of love that she and Bloom once shared. Her unsentimental stream of consciousness is a song of songs that reaches backwards and forwards across the centuries.  Written one hundred years ago, Joyce’s words seem carved not just for today, but tomorrow too. Time ticks within time, dreams are upended, and life is thrown off balance. Molly seeks to reanimate love, and ends up discovering herself. Dublin becomes Gibraltar, age becomes youth, and a small room in Dublin becomes the world.

A beautiful and honest celebration of womanhood, written by James Joyce, adapted by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann, and directed by Kira Simring, Moloney’s one-woman performance is a tribute to the enduring mysteries of loss and love – and the affirmation found, yes, in between.

“Yes, that was why I liked him.  Because I saw he understood or felt what a woman is … Yes!”

Free post-show discussions have been organized for Friday, July 5 with Director Kira Simring and after the evening performance on Saturday, July 6 with Peter Quinn and Colum McCann. These discussions are free for all performance attendees who wish to stay.

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“exuberant…an unforgettable affirmation of life and joy… an affirmation of female strength, liberation, and self-determination that we need to hear.” – Theatermania

“a veering, vivid, ribald monologue expertly performed by Ms. Moloney” – The New York Times

“In her dynamic portrayal, Moloney offers a portrait of woman burning to be seen and celebrated” – BroadwayWorld

“One of the best acting performances currently on stage in New York.” – Wolf Entertainment Guide

“strikingly presented…Moloney’s enthralling performance makes for an entrancing 80 minutes…Without being a Joycean scholar or just having slight or even no knowledge of its source material, one can still marvel at Moloney’s lyrical gutsiness and Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom’s power.” – Theaterscene.net

“Moloney’s performance is, quite simply, a masterpiece.” – Theatre is Easy

Moloney dives into the monologue with passion and verve – CurtainUp

“this 75-minute monologue brings to full-bodied life one of Irish author’s James Joyce’s most indelible and interesting characters… say, “Yes! Yes! Yes!’” – Theater News Online

Production History:
After reading Ulysses as a young girl, Aedín Moloney began developing her unique interpretation of James Joyce’s Molly Bloom. In 2003, renowned author and Joyce enthusiast, Colum McCann, invited her to perform passages from the Penelope chapter at his annual Bloomsday celebration.  With McCann’s encouragement, Moloney released “Reflections of Molly Bloom” in 2017, an audio recording of the unabridged text, accompanied with music by Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains). This will be the world premiere of Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom, adapted for the stage by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann from James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses.

Please note: Due to nudity and explicit language, audience members must be at least 16 years old to attend this production.

Wild Abandon

WORLD PREMIERE
in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

Written and Performed by Leenya Rideout
Directed by Lisa Rothe

September 19 – October 21, 2018

“a compelling singer… versatile songwriter and multi-instrumentalist” – The New Yorker

“Wild Abandon is more than a memoir. It’s a rich tapestry of narrative…” – CurtainUp

Leenya, an actor and musician, is figuratively and literally stuck. One night, she finds herself performing alone in a Long Island pub, separated by a snowstorm from the rest of her Irish rock band. Dusting off her original songs, she revisits stories of love, humor, and heartache which all seem to invoke thoughts of her mother, Lynn.

Lynn is also an artist, but she prefers paints and canvas over a live audience. A reluctant stage mom, she is a church lady full of mixed messages. As Leenya performs, she reaches across a continent and a generation – connecting with her mother through art and memories. Together, the two women push beyond their pasts and discover how to live with Wild Abandon.

Both funny and poignant, this solo play with music examines the one primal relationship that is at once universal and infinitely, uniquely complex.

Irish Rep is proud to present the world premiere of Leenya Rideout’s solo show, Wild Abandon, featuring original music by Leenya Rideout and the artwork of Lynn Rideout. Playwright Leenya Rideout is a Broadway actress (Cabaret, Company, War Horse) musician, and songwriter focused on folk, rock, and Celtic music. Wild Abandon explores a complicated mother-daughter relationship in a world where women are just beginning to have their voices heard through art.

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Off The Meter, On The Record

Driving New York City Crazy for 35 Years

in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

written and performed by John McDonagh
directed by Ciaran O’Reilly

Extended through November 18, 2017

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A comedic glimpse into 35 years behind the wheel of a New York City yellow taxi, Off The Meter is a pithy social commentary from New York’s most recognizable cab driver about life spent behind the wheel.  John McDonagh, veteran radio host, has condensed thirty-plus years of activism, reality show antics and observation into a love song to the city that never sleeps.

From the plight of the NYC homeless to the crazy demands of Upper East Side matrons, McDonagh brings the audience from laughter to tears and back again faster than the apparition of umbrella dealers on a rainy day. Throw in his tales of brushes with the rich and famous, and you have Irish storytelling at its best.

“he’s an unfailingly affable raconteur… It’s all fascinating stuff” -The New Yorker

“uproarious and moving” –TheaterScene

“Hilarious…It’s hard to think of anyone who could who could do justice to the New York cabby’s life better than John McDonagh” –Theatre’s Leiter Side

John McDonagh is a playwright, cab driver, comic and political activist. Off The Meter represents the culmination of a thirty-five year career of driving a yellow cab while trying to make a difference in the world. He is currently producer and host of Radio Free Eireann and Talk Mac, We and Thee with Malachy McCourt and Corey Kilgannon, weekly radio shows heard on Pacifica station WBAI, New York.  John began his career as a NYC Yellow cab driver after serving in the U.S. Army in Germany during the Vietnam War. He has been writing and performing at Caroline’s, the Comic Strip, the Huntington Cinema Arts Center, NY Society for Ethical Culture, the Puffin Room SOHO, and  Rocky Sullivan’s pub among others.  John is an active member of Irish American Writers and Artists.   As a political activist, John was a monitor in the Nicaraguan elections in 1990, organized “Cabbies Against Bush” campaign in NYC during the 2004 republican convention, was editor of the Irish People newspaper, hosted an Irish radio show in Perth, Australia, works with Veterans for peace, and is the go-to voice of Irish American activism.  John was featured in the BBC program Steven Fry in America.

Originally incubated at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell

 

Rebel In The Soul

in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

by Larry Kirwan
directed by Charlotte Moore

April 12- May 21, 2017

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Dr. Noel Browne was elected to the Irish Parliament in the general election of 1948. Handsome, intense, arrogant, and unpredictable, he was only 33 years of age, with few political skills but a burning ambition to rid Ireland of the scourge of tuberculosis which had wiped out most of his family. Upon the introduction of his “Mother & Child Scheme”—a plan to provide free postnatal care to women and children under the age of 16—he quickly found himself at odds with the “Man of Destiny,” party leader and ex-Irish Republican Army chief, Sean McBride, and the ruthless, obsessive tactician, Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Charles McQuaid.

Larry Kirwan’s Rebel in the Soul closely examines the maneuvering of these three charismatic people and the ensuing crisis that brought down the government and changed Irish life forever.

“A politically-charged drama that’s both informative and compelling…. Rebel in the Soul is your chance to experience some of the most formidable characters in Irish history up close and personal in Irish Repertory Theatre’s cozy atmosphere.” –Stage Buddy

“looks into the shadowlands of Irish history… a triple-decker drama” -CurtainUp

“the show is superb and the cast is just great…You’ll enjoy every moment” –Irish Examiner

“consistently gripping” –Broadway Blog

“I urge everyone to see this splendid play” -Black Tie Magazine

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