Written by Turlough McConnell | Directed by George C. Heslin
In association with The Ulster Scots Agency and The Northern Ireland Bureau In partnership with Carnegie Hall and “MIGRATIONS Festival”
A ground breaking celebration of the Scots-Irish and their gift to America. An evening of music, song and dance. Experience the ingenuity of how these inspirational settlers became pioneers, patriots and presidents.
VENUE: THE SHEEN CENTRE | 18 Bleecker St, New York, NY
Written by Marco Calvani | World Premiere | Directed by Erwin Maas
Origin New Play Commission
Two neighbors in a Chicago suburb housing project are brought together by a deadly encounter involving their dogs.
As the action unwinds, the play teeters precariously on the cutting edge of gender and race in America, often pushing the play’s bright naturalism to the limit.
The cast of three features Dan Butler, who will be familiar to audiences from his roles as Bulldog on TV’s Frasier and last season’s Travesties on Broadway.
An Origin Theatre Company commission, Beautiful Day Without You is Calvani’s first full-length play written in English. A well-known actor, director and playwright in Italy, Spain and France, Calvani has collaborated on several occasions with Neil LaBute, who directed the premieres of two of his plays: Things of This World (Spoleto Festival, Fringe Festival Madrid and subsequently at La MaMa Theatre with Estelle Parsons and Larry Pine), andThe Second Time (Biennale Venice, and also at La MaMa). His Strong Hands, written in Italian, was his first play to be produced to wide acclaim across Europe.
CAST Dan Butler* Richarda Abrams* Anne Son*
CREATIVE TEAM Guy Delancey, Costume, Lighting & Set Design Fan Zhang, Sound Design Miriam Hyfler, Stage Management
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: WEST END THEATRE | 268 W 86th St, New York, NY
What the Critics had to say:
“His [Calvani’s] dialogue is meticulously observed, with moments of poetry that highlight the suffering inadequacies of everyday conversation. (…) Unnervingly relevant!”
Popdust.com
“A dense 90-minutes that are often confounding but ultimately rewarding.”
TheaterScene.net
“Calvani deserves credit for tackling pressing cultural issues in the U.S.”
OffOffOnline.com
“Butler is a stupendous whirlwind as Bob Sacco… colossal!”
Written by Charles Dickens | Directed by Erwin Maas | Featuring Elmore James
The past, present and future intermingle in an enchanting new site-specific parlor performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Set in an historic 19th century Chelsea townhouse, complementary mince pies and mulled wine will be served at every performance. Produced by Origin Theatre Company, this classic holiday favorite features a diverse cast headed by acclaimed Broadway veteran and opera singer Elmore James. The piece is directed by Erwin Maas and includes a chorus of period carolers. First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol was adapted for the stage within weeks of its publication. Dickens’ own command performances drew huge crowds in large theatres across England and in a famous tour of America in 1867-68. Origin evokes this original staging by transforming the Chelsea townhouse that was once home to Geraldine Page & Rip Torn, with the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian domestic life.
VENUE: TORN PAGE TOWNHOUSE | 435 West 22nd Street, New York, NY
What the Critics had to say:
“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL, WELL-FELT PERFORMANCE! The air is fragrant with mulled wine and mince pies.”
Written by Lot Vekemans | US Premiere | Directed by Erwin Maas New York Times Critics’ Pick
“About a man and a woman who lost a child, then themselves and eventually each other.”
Starring Obie Award winner Birgit Huppuch & Drama Desk nominee Michael Laurence. With live vocals by Jordan Rutter.
After many years of separation, a man and a woman meet at the burial grounds of their child. He moved on and looks to the future. She remains stuck in the past. What comes from tragedy? Will some of our greatest adversities lead us down a path of further grief and sorrow? Or can hope be born out of our deepest emotional pain and turmoil? While remembering the final moments of their loved one, the man and the woman take their first steps towards reconciliation.
CAST Birgit Huppuch Michael Laurence
CREATIVE TEAM Rina Vergano, Translation Jian Jung, Set & Costume Design Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Lighting Design Sam LaFrage, Sound Design Carol A. Sullivan, Stage Manager
VENUE: THE BECKETT THEATRE | Theatre Row 42nd St NYC
Best Bet!: “Poison has some of the best acting I’ve seen in some time! Director Erwin Maas did a phenomenal job! An operatic journey! It comes recommended!”
“Finely performed, very well written and strikingly staged! Poison is a challenging and insightful exploration of the human condition that has been perfectly rendered! It’s all part of director Erwin Maas’s masterful and inventive staging!”
“Huppuch and Laurence are magnetic! POISON is a play for the lover of European theater and its tradition of tackling the tough questions head-on, with no artifice or spectacle!”
Written by Jonas Hassen Khemiri | US Premiere | Directed by Erwin Maas
How do we conceive and perceive the best version of ourselves, and does that version change throughout our lives? The Hundred We Are, a play making its North American premiere at The Cell Theatre, seeks to answer those questions, tackling what it means to grow older, to lose sight of oneself and to view your own life not as an outsider but as an insider.
Written by 2011 Obie Award winner Jonas Hassen Khemiri and translated into English by Frank Perry, The Hundred We Are received the Hedda Award for Best Play in its Norwegian premiere in 2010. In its New York incarnation, directed by Erwin Maas, the play stars Mirirai Sithole, Orlagh Cassidy and Kitty Chen as the ambiguously-named 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and Caitlin Cisco as their shadow. 1, a young radical, 2, a middle-aged housewife, and 3, a clear-eyed world-traveler, meet front and center to decide if they should start anew.
It’s here you realize two facts: These are not three women but three parts of the same woman, different stages of the same life, the same voices in the same head of one incredibly conflicted, tormented woman; and somewhere along the way, something went horribly, horribly wrong.
CREATIVE TEAM Jack Gilliat, Technical Production Design Derek Van Heel, Lighting Design Jenny Green, Costume Design Sam LaFrage, Sound Design Michael Palmer, Stage Manager
VENUE: THE CELL THEATRE, 338 West 23rd Street
What the Critics had to say:
As spellbinding as it is frightening.
THEATERMANIA.com
An open and honest portrayal of memory loss, mental illness and the pains of growing older.
theeasy.com
(..) an intense and revealing look at the state of humanity!
In Association with The Attic Studio Dublin | Directed by Henning Hegland
Origin New Play Comission
An evening of short plays by Jane Mulcahy, Aisling McLaughlin, Paul Kennedy, Órla Mc Govern & Karl O’Neill
A collaboration between The Attic Studio Dublin and Origin NYC. Five playwright were given the theme ‘With Love From…’ and a two day deadline, resulting in an evening of exhilarating theatre not to be missed!
Plays presented:
Jane Mulcahy – ‘After the Eulogy’ Aisling McLaughlin – ‘Waiting for Ebbets’ Paul Kennedy – ‘Til the Ocean is Hung Out to Dry’ Órla Mc Govern – ‘Kitchen’ Karl O’Neill – ‘Where Have All The Roses Gone?’
VENUE: TIMES SQUARE ARTS CENTER, 300 W 43rd Street
Written by Tim Ruddy | World Premiere | Directed by Christopher Randolph
Dave, an aspiring artist and truck driver living in Los Angeles who watches the war on television; Hans, a well-meaning international peacekeeper from Holland, who finds himself drawn into a battle that is not his own, and Irene, a bright, passionate farm woman who watches her idyllic village life shattered by the encroaching conflict.
Despite their differences, each of the characters will find themselves spiritually bankrupted by these very same events. And through a remark- able turn of events they will discover, despite the gross disparities in their circumstances, a shocking commonality.
CAST Carey Van Driest Ted Schneider Timothy Carter
CREATIVE TEAM James Maloof , Production Deisgn Derek van Heel, Lighting Design Sam LaFrage, Sound Design Alexis M. Qualls, Stage Manager
Written by Abi Morgan | New York Premiere | Directed by Matt Torney Winner Drama Desk Award – Set Designer Maruti Evans
Childhood friends Lucien and Anthony escape for a summer in the country. When the dazzling Madeline explodes into their lives, she tears open old wounds, awakening bittersweet secrets of friendship and love. An electric play about love, loss and the tiny moments that can change your life forever.
CAST Blake DeLong Christian Conn Olivia Horton
CREATIVE TEAM Maruti Evans, Set & Lighting Design Nicole Wee, Costume Design Will Pickens, Sound Design
Written by Hattie Naylor | American Premiere | Directed by David Sullivan | Starring Kevin Melendez
This remarkable story of Ivan, a four-year-old who fled an abusive household and found sanctuary on the streets with a pack of wild dogs, is a true story ripped from the headlines. But as relived by the protagonist as a young man, Ivan and the Dogs unfolds like a fairytale in which the human world lacks humanity and the animal world has it in abundance. Like the best of Grimm’s this gripping story, told with lyrical wistfulness by Naylor, has a mythic resonance.
Originally produced as a radio play for Radio 4 in England, Ivan and the Dogswas nominated for a 2011 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
CAST Kevin Melendez*
CREATIVE TEAM Bart Healy, Set Design Michael O’Connor, Lighting Design Stephanie Nichols, Costume Design Joel Diamond, Sound Design Michael Palmer, Stage Manager*
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
A beautiful retelling of a true story!
Daily Telegraph
A captivating and surprisingly uplifting modern-day fairytale
Fulham Chronicle
Extraordinary
The Herald
It’s a remarkable, haunting play, performed with charm, nuance and charisma by Kevin Melendez as Ivan Mishukov.
Written by Aidan Matthews | American Premiere | Directed by M. Burke Walker
Charles, a retired classics professor, and his wife, Helen, are back in the apartment they shared for their entire married lives. They quietly reaffirm their deep affection for each other, the life they’ve shared, its delights and disappointments, as they toast their commitment.
In a similar apartment, a much younger couple unpacks from an exhilarating trip to Greece. They settle into an empty apartment, eager to begin their new life together. Over the course of the play, two quiet, intimate evenings unfold, where the lives of two couples are irrevocably changed.
Exit/Entrance premiered in the Peacock at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The Irish Times called the play, “one of the most challenging and satisfying evenings of pure theatre seen in years.”
CAST Greg Mullavey* Linda Thorson* David L. Townsend* Lara Hillier*
CREATIVE TEAM Maruti Evans, Set Design Chris Dallos, Lighting Design Mimi Maxen, Costume Design David Margolin Lawson, Sound Design Aoife Hassett, Wardrobe Assistant Michael Palmer, Production Stage Manager*
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 50 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
Few plays in recent years have dared to tackle a subject so deep and broad as the emotional commitment two people make to one another over a lifetime. Exit/Entrance, a shimmering play by Aidan Mathews takes a piercingly heartbreaking and completely honest look at one couple’s journey in one of this season’s first wonderful plays.
Theatremania
Aidan Mathews’ “Exit/Entrance,” originally produced at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 1990, is getting its belated American premiere thanks to Origin Theatre Company… Lara Hillier is charming and spirited as the younger Helen, radiating promise, and David L. Townsend’s younger Charles is an intriguing combination of geekiness, confidence, shyness, and despair.
Backstage.com
Director M. Burke Walker has directed the actors, both young and old, with incredible nuance… There are plenty of great ideas here backed up by fantastic performances (Linda Thorson is also riveting as the older Helen).
Five World Premiere short plays inspired by stories from the New York media. Directed by M. Burke Walker
When a Palestinian luthier, a London songwriter, a time traveler, a troubled teen and a New Yorker dream of music, escape and home, they are drawn together by the global media, even as their communities and lives are shattered by the events it depicts. A play for five voices by five acclaimed female Irish playwrights, SPINNING THE TIMES is a tapestry of five short plays woven from articles in the New York press.
THE LEMON TREE Written by Rosemary Jenkins Performed by Jerzy Gwiazdowski*
THE LUTHIER Written by Lucy Caldwell Performed by Ethan Hova
MIRACLE CONWAY Written by Geraldine Aron Performed by Rosemary Fine*
GIN IN A TEACUP Written by Rosalind Haslett Performed by Aysan Celik*
FUGUE Written by Belinda McKeon Performed by Mark Byrne*
CREATIVE TEAM Lex Liang, Scenic Designer Jonathan Spencer, Lighting Design Sandra Alexandre, Costume Designer Christian Fredericksen, Sound Designer Michael Palmer*, Stage Manager
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 59 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
A charming jumble
New York Theatre Guide
A seemingly random assortment of stories that leaves the reader puzzled but fascinated.
Written by Philip Ridley | American Premiere | Directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser
Co-produced by Stiff Upper Lip In association with The Villar-Hauser Theatre Development Fund
A dark and often gripping family drama in which two co-dependent brothers share a repressed, lurid secret.
Set in East London, “Leaves of Glass” chronicles the slow disintegration of the relationship between Stephen , a man with what seems like an enviably stable, have-it-all life and his younger brother Barry an alcoholic painter with mental health issues. At the core of this fraternal meltdown is the haunting memory of their father’s suicide at a young age, an act of selfish violence that proves to be just as responsible for the older brother’s functionality as it is for the younger sibling’s dysfunction.Set in East London, “Leaves of Glass” chronicles the slow disintegration of the relationship between Stephen , a man with what seems like an enviably stable, have-it-all life and his younger brother Barry an alcoholic painter with mental health issues. At the core of this fraternal meltdown is the haunting memory of their father’s suicide at a young age, an act of selfish violence that proves to be just as responsible for the older brother’s functionality as it is for the younger sibling’s dysfunction.
CAST Xanthe Elbrick* Victor Villar-Hauser* Alexa Kelly* Euan Morton*
CREATIVE TEAM Mark Symczak, Set Design Doug Fliomena, Lighting Design Christopher Lione, Costume Design Jill BC Du Boff, Sound Design Raynelle Wright*, Stage Manager
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: PETER JAY SHARP THEATER, 416 West 42nd Street
What the Critics had to say:
The suicide of a father leaves a stealthy, ultimately devastating imprint on the lives of his two sons in “Leaves of Glass,” a slow-burning but effective drama by the British playwright Philip Ridley (“The Pitchfork Disney”) that features a superb cast including the Tony nominee Euan Morton.
NY Times
Hauntingly vivid.
The London Times
A striking piece of work that leaves a suitably nasty aftertaste
Five World-Premiere short plays written by Ireland’s leading young playwrights inspired by journeys taken on the New York subway
In early 2008 Origin Theatre Company invited five of Ireland’s leading young playwrights to find inspiration in New York City’s underground. These five world-premiere short plays invite you to travel on five unique journeys into the heart and soul of New York City – in the subway system.
THE HOUSEKEEPER Written by Morna Regan Directed by Fiana Toibin Cast includes Paula Nance*, Jacqueline Knapp* and Michael Graves*
EVANGELINE ELSEWHERE Written by Pat Kinevane Directed by David Sullivan Cast includes: Kimberley Hebert Gregory*
THE MISSION Written by Gary Duggan Directed by Alyse Rothman Cast includes Brianne Berkson*, Hal Fickett and Chris Henry
SHAVING THE PICKLE Written by Abbie Spallen Directed by Julia Gibson Cast includes Dori Legg*, Jery Gwiazdowski* and Molly Ward*
THE PARTING GLASS Written by Ursula Rani Sarma Directed by Portia Krieger Cast includes Raymond James Hill, David Nelson and Ryan King*
CREATIVE TEAM Maruti Evans, Set & Lighting Design Michael Bevins, Costume Design Zachary Williamson & Jana Hoglund, Sound Design Carol A. Sullivan*, Production Stage Manager Stephanie Ward, Stage Manager Lianne Ritchie, Graphic Artist
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 59 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
A collection of five new 25 minute plays written by some of Ireland’s best contemporary playwrights inspired by journey’s on the New York City Subway Some of the most thoughtful and affecting plays you’ll see in New York this year.
Cahir O’Doherty, Irish Voice
Characters blaze forth, giving wonderful opportunities for the performers.
Karl Levett, Backstage
Kimberly Herbert Gregory gives a powerhouse performance in Evangeline Elsewhere by Pat Kinevane.
Joe Hurley, Irish Echo
Ursula Rani Sarma hits bulls-eye in achieving the End of Lines challenge and delivers a meaningful and touching short play. I also like the idea of exposing New York audiences to emerging Irish writers.
Written by Thomas Kilroy | US Premiere | Directed by Brian Murray
The Shape of Metal explores the life and work of a sculptor and her complex and often difficult relationship with her two daughters, Judith and Grace. On the eve of the opening of a permanent exhibition of her work at the Museum of Modern Arts, the world-renowned sculptor Nell Jeffrey and her daughter Judith struggle to come to terms with the disappearance of Grace, who walked out of her mother’s studio thirty years before. Through cruel twists of fate, mother and daughter are forced to confront the events of the past, and exorcise its unquiet ghosts. First presented in 2003 at Ireland’s national theatre, The Abbey.
CAST Julia Gibson* Roberta Maxwell* Molly Ward*
CREATIVE TEAM Lex Liang, Set Design Elizabeth Flauto, Costume Design Phil Monat, Lighting Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Design Raynelle Wright*, Stage Manager Laurence Lowry, Assistant Director Jack Doulin, Casting
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 59 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
Rich, thoughtful and achingly human… another gem in Kilroy’s portfolio.”
The Irish Times
Fascinating, stimulating and disturbing… beautifully constructed.
The Irish Sunday Independent
Roberta Maxwell is so magnificent as an aged sculptor in The Shape of Metal …her voice remains fierce as she goes into verbal battle with her angry daughter Judith, THE EQUALLY POWERFUL JULIA GIBSON…..there are terrific contributions to the production, including Lex Liang’s set design.”
The New York Times
Roberta Maxwell gives a tour de performance, director Brain Murray also obtains excellent performances from Julia Gibson and Molly Ward
TheatreScene.net
“THEATRE LEGEND BRIAN MURRAY DIRECTS STRONG PERFORMANCES”
Written by Paul Meade and David Parnell | US Premiere Directed by Paul Meade
in association with Civic Theatre and Gúna Nua Theatre Company
Trousers explores the meaning of life, friendships surviving tough times, the need for love and the healing properties of herbal tea. This is a comedy for men who like yoga and beer, and women who wonder what makes them tick.
Dermot, a single man in his thirties, lives a quiet life alone working as a postman by day and dreaming of being a world famous DJ by night. Suddenly his peaceful and ordered life is shattered by the arrival of his old friend Mick. Mick has been kicked out by his girlfriend and looks to Dermot for a place to stay. He brings with him a bag of unwashed clothes, very little money and a business plan. As the guys begin living together, memories are evoked of the last time they shared accommodation, seventeen years ago, for a summer in Manhattan, when they both worked in a restaurant to earn their college fees, and sang male duets together to impress girls.
The play received its world premiere in September in Dublin.
CAST Gary Gregg Daniel Freedom Stewart*
CREATIVE TEAM Lex Liang, Scenic Design James Bedell, Lighting Design Elizabeth Flauto, Costume Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Designer Carol A. Sullivan*, Production Stage Manager David Gagnon, Vocal Coach Stephanie Rosenberg, Assistant Stage Manager Joanne Quinn, Production Assistant
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 59 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
“A THROUGHLY ENJOYABLE EVENING! Performed with precision and polish, Trousers offers a delightful, uninterrupted 80 minutes of professional theatre! Splendid performances by Gary Gregg and Daniel Freedom Stewart… the chemistry between the two is seamless”
Jo Ann Rosen, NYTheatre.com
Trousers set me thinking, which is one of the msot important things theatre can do. The two actors play their roles quite convincing and naturalistically.
Rob Lester, Edge New York
TROUSERS DELIVERS, particularly when performed by actors as likeable as Gary Gregg and Daniel Freedom Stewart!
Written by Samuel Adamson | US Premiere Directed by Talya Klein
Winner of UK’s prestigious Time Out Award
Samuel Adamson’s play is about three London twenty-somethings involved in an unconventional love triangle that blurs the boundaries between friendship, love, and sexual identity. Talya Klein directs. Clocks and Whistles centers around Henry, an introverted young man who’s making the first tentative steps toward considering himself gay. Despite this, he remains infatuated with his best friend Anne, an aspiring actress who’s as outgoing as Henry is shy. When Henry develops a strong attraction to the hedonistic and free-wheeling Trevor, they begin to see each other — until the bisexual Trevor meets Anne and the two begin a secret affair. Confronted by this betrayal, Henry finds himself caught between his interest in Trevor, his deep feelings for Anne, and the fear of losing both of them forever.
CAST Meghan Andrews* Catherine Eaton* Jerzy Gwiazdowski David Mawhinney* Christopher Randolph*
CREATIVE TEAM Lex Liang, Set Design Jesse Belsky, Lighting Design Elizabeth Flauto, Costume Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Design Pam Salling, Stage Manager
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: CHASHAMA THEATRE, 217 East 42nd St
What the Critics had to say:
THE CAST’S ENERGY AND BRISK DIRECTION OF TALYA KLEIN PROPEL THE 20 QUICK TAKE SCENES! Meghan Andrews (who was excellent as the shy young bride in the recent “Trip to Bountiful”) didn’t flinch from portraying the needy, cruel Anne. Catherine Eaton was wholly believable as Caroline, a tough-talking sculptor and neighbor of Trevor. Samuel Adamson’s tonal pitch for these stuck, disappointed people is near perfect!”
New York Times
BEST BET! If you like your plays sharp, swift and bitingly funny get tickets to Clocks and Whistles!
New York Magazine
RIVALS ANYTHING YOU’LL SEE ON BROADWAY OR OFF THIS SEASON! This import strikes chords of dissonance both haunting and raw! Acted fearlessly, Clocks and Whistles is darkly absorbing!
Edge New York
INSIGHTFUL, AMUSING AND SOMEWHAT DISTURBING! Samuel Adamson’s Clocks and Whistles affords us an insightful, amusing and somewhat disturbing look into the private lives of a group of young Londoners of a decade ago! All in all, a credit to George C. Heslin and Origin Theatre Company’s 2006 season!
Irish Echo
PICK OF THE WEEK! The performers make Adamson’s casual dialogue crackle, turning this into a satisfying trip into 21st-century sexual coupling.
Written by Mark O’Rowe | US Premiere | Directed by George Heslin
With unsettling lyricism, three women illuminate the strange and perilous town of Crestfall — where all goodness seems to have disappeared. They share a private journey of survival with poetry and verve, navigating their way through darkened streets. Alluring yet hardened, ruined yet resilient, the women finally discover something new: a small, bright hope wrested fiercely from the ravaged landscape.
Crestfall is three monologues for women and together they tell the tale of a savage town and the desperate women who inhabit it. O’Rowe pushes his characters to the limit only to redeem us all at the end with a beautifully poetic image of innocence.
CAST Marie Howells Barbara J Spence* Fiana Toibin*
CREATIVE TEAM Lex Liang, Set Design Jason Junit, Lighting Design Michelle R. Phillips, Costume Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Design Carol A. Sullivan*, Stage Manager
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: 59E59 THEATERS, 59 East 59th Street
What the Critics had to say:
(..) three stunningly written monologues with as much sex, violence and cruelty as 10 Quentin Tarantino films… [a] speeding train of a play staged with little fuss by George C Heslin… It was almost as if Mr. O’Rowe had studied Samuel Beckett’s chiseled prose and Martin McDonagh’s outrageous violence… O’Rowe presents something truly unexpected…a picture of pure innocence.
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
Immensely talented Mr O’Rowe…Skillfully acted, intelligently and sparingly directed…
Joseph Hurley, Irish Echo
Fiana Toibin’s simultaneously frightening and touching performance in Crestfall blended intense ferocity with innate humanity. Mining Mark O’Rowe’s abstract language for its musicality, Toibin used her physicality to beautifully underscore his cadences: a casual, wistful glance one moment, a blood-curdling stare paired with rigid steeliness the next.
Written by Aidan Mathews | US Premiere Directed by M. Burke Walker
A play about two brothers, one family and the many faiths which make up modern life. Jordan, the first-born, a trainee doctor, is bedbound and dying of a brain tumour; his younger brother, Marcus, brilliant and charismatic, has been a psychiatric patient. Around the deathbed gather their widowed mother, an ebullient Methodist neighbour, Marcus’s Church of Ireland girlfriend, and a Roman Catholic priest returned from Rwanda to the blindcraft of a chaplaincy. The gloom of the sickroom is repeatedly dispelled by their lively altercations and plenty of gallows humour as this oddball synod doggedly praises God.
CAST Ean Sheehy* J. Kennedy* Barbara Sims* John Seidman* Colin Lane* Jessica Dickey*
CREATIVE TEAM Michael Moore, Set Design Juliet Chia, Lighting Design Michelle R Phillips, Costume Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Design Pamela Salling, Stage Manager
*appearing as courtesy of Actors Equity Association
VENUE: PHIL BOSAKOWSKI THEATER, 354 W 45th St
What the Critics had to say:
A RIVETING PIECE OF THEATRE! Director M. Burke Walker has elicited uniformly fine performances from his ensemble cast. J. Kennedy gives a highly intense and intelligent portrayal of the inherently angry and frustrated Marcus. A play of great sensitivity.
Diana Barth, Irish Voice
EMOTIONALLY GRIPPING! Aidan Mathews amusingly and poignantly investigates the ways in which people derive their spiritual sustenance at the cusp of the millennium. M. Burke Walker elicits sterling performances from his six-member company
Andy Probst, American Theater Web
ORIGIN THEATRE IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR IT’S RISK- TAKING IN THIS FINE PRODUCTION. J Kennedy is witty and compelling; Ean Sheehy is an extraordinary aspect of this fine play.
Joe Hurley, Irish Echo
A VIBRANT PORTRAIT OF THE CHALLENGES, REWARDS, AND OCCASIONAL DETRIMENTS OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! ‘Communion’ is beautifully brought to life by M. Burke Walker’s sensitive direction and an acting company providing a host of compelling performances. Ean Sheehy and Barbara Sims are especially convincing in their roles, particularly when performing together. Remaining dry-eyed through their final minutes together might rank as one of the season’s most daunting theatrical challenges.
Written by Enda Walsh | US Premiere Directed by David DeBeck Featuring George Heslin
Nominated for Best Production & Best Actor at the Dublin Theatre Festival
Enda Walsh’s play Misterman, written for a solo performer, is a study of one man’s descent into religious mania in small-town Ireland. The play’s action is set in ‘an abandoned depot/dilapidated factory’ in Inishfree, where loner Thomas Magill lives out his days, interacting with the people of the town via tape-recordings he has made of their voices, or by impersonating them himself. Magill is a fierce evangelist, disgusted by the ungodliness of the townspeople. He knows that jovial Dwain Flynn is a miserable drunk, that Timmy O’Leary enslaves his lovely mother, and that sweet Mrs Cleary is a blasphemous flirt. He is convinced that it’s up to him to save the sinful place, but his deranged mental state leads to dire consequences for him and the town.
CAST George Heslin
CREATIVE TEAM Suzanne Wang, Set Design Zachary Williamson, Sound Design Colette Morris, Stage Manager Sean Farrell, Lighting Design
VENUE: IRISH ARTS CENTRE, 553 West 51st St
What the Critics had to say:
Origin Theatre Company set a new standard in production quality and demonstrate their genuine commitment to bringing new works to the stage.
Irish Voice
A powerful performance knocking the audience right of their seats with every outrage and then smoothes them over with a chilling calm.
Show Business Weekly
David De Becks direction makes the trip through Thomas mind an intriguing journey. The lighting and sound design by Sean Farrell and Zachary are extremely effective.
Backstage New York
A well paced absorbing production, with grace style and insight.
Irish Echo
Zachary Williamson expertly layer sound design and Sean Farrell’s evocative lighting guided by De Becks skillful direction