Running through Sept. 28, "1st Irish 2008" marks New York City's first festival celebrating Irish theatre. Composed of three contemporary Irish plays and an evening of five short works, the First Irish Festival hosts productions from the Origin Theatre Company, Solas Nua, Tir NA Theatre and the Keegan Theatre.
The first presentation, End of Lines, "an evening of five short plays inspired by journeys on the NYC subway" features the work of playwrights Gary Duggan, Abbie Spellen, Ursula Rani Sarma, Pat Kinevane and Morna Regan.
End of Lines has direction by David Sullivan, Julia Gibson, George C. Heslin, Fiana Toibin and Alyse Rothman. The set and lighting design is by Maruti Evans. The costume designer is Michael Bevins.
Following is Edna Walsh's Disco Pigs, directed by Dan Brick and Linda Murray, and featuring Madeline Carr and Rex Daugherty.
Running Sept. 9-14, Disco Pigs is described as such: "Pig and Runt are two 17-year-olds who have grown up sharing everything: birthday, language, and worldview. But at that moment when pop songs and life-changing orgasms flash by and last forever, their friendship begins to implode on the road to adulthood." Disco Pigs is presented by Solas Nua. Mojo Mickyo, from playwright Owen McCafferty, is presented by Tir NA Theatre Sept. 16-21. Stephen Russell directs Colin Hamell and Derry Woodhouse in the "vibrant and faced-paced tale of two boys growing up in Belfast during the summer of 1970. Playing headers, torturing a cantankerous old man, building huts, spitting from cinema balconies and re-enacting Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Mojo Mickyo is a classic coming-of-age story about two boys whose innocence is ultimately betrayed by communal hatred."
The final Irish offering is the Keegan Theatre's Love, Peace and Robbery, playing Sept. 23-28. Kerry Waters directs the play by Liam Heylin that features Matthew Keenan, Eric Lucas and Bruce Rauscher. Love, Peace and Robbery follows "the escapades of Gary and Darren - both straight out of prison. Living with a curfew and the broken pieces of their pasts, they confront life back on the streets of Cork. Two guys who prove that there may actually be honor among thieves."
Tickets for 59E59 Theaters productions are available by calling (212) 279-4200 or by visiting TicketCentral.
For further information visit 59E59Theaters.
