The Off-Broadway Irish Repertory Company is mounting a revival of 19th century playwright Dion Boucicault's 1874 melodrama, The Shaughraun , with previews beginning Oct. 30 for a Nov. 12 opening. There is no scheduled closing date at present.

Boucicault's London Assurance was recently given a well-received staging at the Roundabout Theatre Company, starring Brian Bedford. The Shaughraun (loosely translated as "The Vagabond") was written some 34 years after Assurance and was Boucicault's last success. He died in 1890.

The play, set during the Irish Fenian Uprising in 1866, concerns a ne'er do well Irishman, who brings mischief and mirth everywhere he travels, and a English solider who falls in love with an Irish woman.

Boucicault, once one of Broadway's most popular playwrights, is known for his sweeping melodramas. He reached popularity during the time of "spectacle" driven theatre - when audiences went to see how realistic the set was.

The cast is full of such Irish Rep regulars as Patrick Fitzgerald and Daniel Gerroll (both in the Rep's The Importance of Being Earnest). Other cast members include Jimmy Cunningham, Terry Donnelly, Lucinda Faraldo, Jason Killalee, Paul McGrane, Marion Thomas Griffin, Ciaran O'Reilly (The Irish, And How They Got That Way ), Amy Redmond, Peter Rogan, Geddeth Smith and Fiona Walsh. Irish Rep artistic director Charlotte Moore will direct. Irish Rep is located in Chelsea at 132 W. 22nd St. For ticket information, call (212) 727-2737.

-- By Robert Simonson and Sean McGrath