The awards, which include honors in acting, directing and design, were given at a ceremony hosted by Papillon Bistro & Bar Sept. 30 at 7 PM. 

Carey Van Driest won Best Actress for her performance in The International, and Michael Mellamphy won Best Actor for his performance in The Cure. Tim Ruddy won Best Playwright for The International. The award for production design went to The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle. 

The Special Jury Prize to Joe Barros, Garrett Coleman and Jason Oremus, the choreographers of McGoldrick’s Thread. 

The Festival's blue-ribbon jury consists of the actresses Sarah Rice and Geraldine Hughes and the journalists Andy Lefkowitz and Leslie (Hoban) Blake.

1st Irish Theatre Festival began Sept. 2 and featured eight plays, with two productions from Ireland and six from the U.S. by contemporary Irish playwrights from Belfast, Dublin, Boston and New York. A total of six productions were world premieres. The list of nominees and winners (in bold preceded by an asterisk) is as follows:

Best Actress
Olivia Horton (The Compass Rose)
Sonya Kelly (I Can See Clearly Now (The Wheelchair on my Face))
Fiana Toibin (A Lady is Waiting)
*Carey Van Driest (The International)

Best Actor
*Michael Mellamphy (The Cure)
Ted Schneider (The International)
Peter Cormican (McGoldrick's Thread)
Dave McEntegart (The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle)
David Mitchell (The Compass Rose)

Best Director
*Kira Simring (McGoldrick's Thread)
Dan Herd (The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle)
David Sullivan (The Compass Rose)
Christopher Scott (The Morons)

Best Playwright
Conal Creedon (The Cure)
Sonya Kelly (I Can See Clearly Now (The Wheelchair on my Face))
*Tim Ruddy (The International)
Ronan Noone (The Compass Rose)

Best Design 
McGoldrick’s Thread
The Morons
*The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle

Best Production
The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle
The Morons
*McGoldrick’s Thread

Curated and coordinated by the New York-based Origin Theatre Company, Origin's 1st Irish is the only festival of its kind to focus exclusively on the work of Irish playwrights and the city's only all-Irish theatre festival.

Throughout the year, Origin, now in its 11th season, produces the New York and American premieres of plays by emerging European playwrights.

For festival information visit 1stIrish.org.