A PERFORMANCE ON SCREEN
By Brian Friel
Directed by Charlotte Moore
Starring Geraldine Hughes, Paul O’Brien, and Ciarán O’Reilly
There are no more scheduled performances of Molly Sweeney. To learn about upcoming digital events,sign up for our email list:
“It sets a new standard for what online theater can and should aspire to be.” – Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
“a fine and gripping digital production….[Molly] persuaded me to notice the gifts of the current darkness” – Helen Shaw, Vulture
Molly has lived in happy, capable, and independent darkness since she was ten months old. When Frank, her restless, unemployed, and enthusiastic husband, makes her blindness his latest cause, he recruits Dr. Rice, a once famous surgeon who, despite being half-drowned in Irish whiskey, agrees to attempt to restore Molly’s sight.
When the bandages come off, Molly, Frank, and Mr. Rice discover the differences between seeing and understanding as they face the terrible consequences of a medical miracle.
Molly Sweeney, Brian Friel’s brilliant study of psychological isolation, exquisitely resonates today as we invite our physically distanced audience to take part in our inaugural performance on screen – a new theatre experience for the COVID-19 hiatus. Geraldine Hughes and Ciarán O’Reilly are reprising their roles from the acclaimed 2011 Irish Rep production, joined by Irish Rep regular, Paul O’Brien, who played Mr. Rice in the Keen Company’s production last fall.
Brian Friel (1929-2015) is widely recognized as one of Ireland’s greatest dramatists. A prolific writer, his best-known works include Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Translations, Faith Healer, and Dancing at Lughnasa. Molly Sweeney premiered at the Gate Theatre, Dublin in 1994 and received its Off Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre in 1996. It was first performed at Irish Repertory Theatre in 2011.
Advance reservations are required. Your event link will be emailed 2 hours before your selected performance begins. Further details below.
Read the performance program here!
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Need help accessing the performance?
The performance will take place on YouTube Live. A private link to the show will be emailed to you two hours before your selected performance date (you must register in advance in order to access the show). The email with the link will come from customerservice@ovationtix.com – if you have not received the email within two hours of your selected performance time, please check your spam inbox or email boxoffice@irishrep.org with “Link Needed” in the subject line. If you need further support, please email boxoffice@irishrep.org with a description of the issue and your phone number. An Irish Rep staff member will be standing by to assist.
For step-by-step instructions on how to view Molly Sweeney on your SmartTV via the Youtube app, see here.
Special Thanks:
Irish Repertory Theatre would like to thank Geraldine Hughes, Paul O’Brien, the family of Brian Friel, Leah Schmidt of The Agency UK, The Keen Company, The Howard Gilman Foundation, Ciarán Madden, Consul General Of Ireland, and the Irish Abroad Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs for their support of this special event.
“a performance of utter purity, theater stripped to its essence…almost shocking in its confessional intensity” – Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
Press from our 2011 production of Molly Sweeney:
“so good that it actually made me shiver” – Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
“emotional, comical, scientific, and philosophical… Charlotte Moore coaxes three wonderful, moving performances” – The New Yorker
“A deeply moving meditation on hope, change and despair…astonishing” – The New York Times
Read the program:
