Preview by Brad Balfour
Held at performance spaces across NYC, the 1st Irish Festival features 15 new plays, 10 of which are in competition, with productions from NYC and Ireland from March 23 to April 28, 2024. The 1st Irish Festival embodies the pain, the passion and hope of Irish and Irish American history.
With that in mind, the Festival’s opening celebration is a staged reading of a new work by Larry Kirwan, a musician, producer, writer and creator whose work intersects various progressive concerns with a broad range of styles and ideas. Set on the last day of the Irish Civil War, his re-imagining of Liam O’Flaherty’s classic, “The Informer ,“ takes place at the American Irish Historical Society, 991 Fifth Avenue (at 80th Street) on Sat., Mar 23, at 7pm. Emphasizing the Festival’s commitment to incubating new work, This is a fabulous chance to see this early on before it becomes a fully realized production.
Festival mainstay, Dublin’s Fishamble: The New Play Company returns to 59E59 Theaters with their 10th Festival production, “King,” written by and starring Pat Kinevane, about Luther, an Elvis impersonator living alone in Cork, who, on a big night out, reflects on his past and dares to dream of the future, as the ups and downs of his life mirrors Ireland’s own history. It runs in Theater B Mar 26 to Apr 14.
The NY Irish Center in Long Island City features the New York premiere of “Bumbled,” a new play by the Boston-based Bernard McMullan and Colin Hamell, and starring Hamell, which tells the story of a loveable (and busy) bee named Pascal. McMullan and Hamell famously collaborated on the widely praised and well-traveled “Jimmy Titanic,” which had its maiden voyage at the Festival in 2012. “Bumbled” is co-produced by Tir Na Theatre and Here Comes Everybody. (Apr 4 and 5 at 7pm) also at An Beal Bocht (Apr 6 at 7pm & Apr 7 at 2pm).
A new staging of John Kearns “Boann and the The Well of Wisdom” (first seen in 2022). Will take place at The Greek Cultural Center Fri to Sun April 26 to 28. Featuring Kylie Logan and James Armstrong, under direction by Mary Linehan (and music accompaniment by Mary Courtney), the two-character drama is based on the myth of Boann (the Irish goddess of poetic inspiration). Boann yearns for creative and personal freedom as she comes of age and stands to inherit the pub run by her father. Her father, Nechtan, who runs the White Cow pub atop a forbidden well in pre-Christian County Kildare, would rather leave things as they are.
As part of their 25th anniversary season, The Drilling Company presents the world premiere of Tim McGillicuddy’s “Herself,” a comedy about a prodigal daughter’s return to the waterside town of Galway to attend the funeral of her alcoholic brother, inherit his pub, face generations of gossip and reconcile with a charismatic parish priest. Featuring Kathleen Emmonds, “Herself,” with a cast of 10, is directed by The Drilling Company’s artistic director Hamilton Clancy and will be at The Gural Theater, 502 West 53rd Street, Mar 29 to Apr 20, Wed to Sat at 7:30pm.
Origin Theater Company presents a concert restaging of Eamon O’Tuama’s rock musical “Peace and Love in Brooklyn.” O’Tuama, the Cork-born Prodigals’ front-man has been collaborating with the acclaimed John Keating in a poignant, time-bending rock ‘n roll drama about an Irish family that never was. One drunken night down a blackberry lane in 1973 Dublin, two teenagers conceive a child, but separate in shame. The story follows the lives of Kiero, a troubled and colorful rock n’ roll roadie and his son whom he never knew… until a chance meeting in Brooklyn. Running five nights at the cell, 338 West 23rd Street, 6 performances: April 3, 4, 5 at 7pm; Apr 6 at 2pm and 7pm; and Apr 7 at 2pm.
Sean Gormley appears in the world premiere of the English translation of Patrick Süskind’s acclaimed play “The Double Bass,” directed by Labhaoise Magee. In “The Double Bass,” a double bassist confronts his shortcomings as he wrestles with the instrument that dominates his life and handicaps his efforts to attract the woman of his dreams. Running Apr 12 to 28 at the cell, 338 West 23rd Street.
Playing in rep with “The Double Bass” at the cell will be a comedy-drama “Last Call for Babe Reilly,” by Marianne Driscoll and directed by Kira Simring. Gadfly and gadabout, Babe Reilly, was popular with the barkeeps around town, but his luck runs out in an encounter with a Q111 bus. Things don’t get much better at the Pearly Gates, but a small twist of fate involving a Ouija board, a cat and little girl named Penny just might set things back on course for the old Babe. Running Apr 12 to 28 at the cell, 338 West 23rd Street.
Staged by Poor Mouth Theatre in the hills of The Bronx, at the popular restaurant-café An Beal Bocht is a bittersweet new comedy, “Running with Coffee,” by Eileen Byrne Richards. The story of a reverse migration when the parents move into the nest of the kids, the play touches on caregiving, mid-life, mental health and fighting over the washing machine. A Queens native, Richards attended Fordham University and then went on to be one of the hosts of the immensely popular WFUV-FM Irish music program Ceol na nGael. Apr 27 and 28 at An Beal Bocht, 445 West 238th Street in Riverdale.
This year’s festival offering from the Irish Repertory Theatre Company is Brian Friel’s “Philadelphia Here I Come” (running from Mar 16 to May 5) as part of their Friel Project — which started in October and runs through May 5. This bittersweet comedy is about a young man’s pending relocation from small-town Ballybeg to America, to live with his aunt.
Serving as judges for the Festival are theater director Conor Bagley, historian Kate Kennon and culture writer Sadhbh Walshe.
Tickets and the festival schedule can be viewed at: www.origingtheatre.org