Dowling, according to a press release, will address "Irish history and the Irish identity . . . [and] offer the audience insight into the historical perspective of Brian Friel's The Home Place." The latter is currently making its American premiere at the Guthrie under Dowling's direction.

Dowling first worked with playwright Friel in 1977 when Dowling was the artistic director of Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Among the Friel works Dowling has directed are Aristocrats; Living Quarters; Dancing at Lughnasa; Philadelphia, Here I Come!; and Molly Sweeney.

The Home Place, press notes state, "tells the story of Christopher Gore, a well-meaning English landlord, and his son David. Their lives come undone when a cousin, Dr. Richard Gore, arrives in Donegal with the intention of pursuing a scientific inquiry. Inspired by Darwinism, and more particularly Sir Francis Galton’s spin-off theories of human racial classification, Dr. Gore sets out to survey the anthropometry of the indigenous Irish. By measuring their craniums and other skeletal characteristics, he hopes to crack the genetic code of the indigenes, demonstrating their (presumably inferior) place in the natural order, and scientifically predicting their (potentially dangerous) behavior." The production will continue through Nov. 25 on McGuire Proscenium Stage.

Tickets for the upcoming In Conversation: Joe Dowling evening are priced $15; call (612) 377-2224 for reservations or visit www.guthrietheater.org.

The Guthrie is located at 818 South 2nd Street (at Chicago Avenue), in downtown Minneapolis.