Ciarán O'Reilly directs the thriller set in 1980s Northern Ireland. Opening is March 8.
In the drama, which premiered at the Abbey Theatre, "secret IRA operations have been compromised and the unthinkable is afoot; an informer is suspected to be operating secretly in the midst of a close knit family. A sinister IRA investigator arrives and his terrifying 'investigations' begin to gnaw away at the edges of a fierce familial loyalty. Five years after the celebrated 1981 hunger strikes and in the midst of the paranoia surrounding informers in the Irish Republican movement, the family faces a turning point."
The cast features Matt Ball, Marc Aden Gray, Luke Kirby, David Lansbury, Anto Nolan and Peter Rogan.
Director O'Reilly recently staged Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape for IRT. With Charlotte Moore, he founded The Irish Repertory Theatre and has appeared in many of its productions and produced all of them. He has thrice been honored by Irish America Magazine with the Irish America Top 100 Irish Award.
The creative team includes set designer Charlie Corcoran, lighting designer Brian Nason, costume designer Martha Hally, sound designer Zachary Williamson and dialect coach Stephen Gabis. Defender of the Faith was first presented at The Irish Rep as part of its ongoing New Works Reading Series in March 2006, helmed by Kara Manning, literary manager.
Empress of India, was produced at the Abbey in 2006 under the direction of Tony Award winner, Garry Hynes. Carolan lives and works in Dublin.
Performances play The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are $60 and $55 and can be purchased by calling The Irish Repertory Theatre box office at (212) 727-2737.
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Defender of the Faith contains mature language and subject matter and is not intended for young audiences. For more information, visit www.irishrep.org.
