Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati to Close Season with OUTSIDE MULLINGAR, 5/5-24

Pack your bags and grab your passport! Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati's closes its 29th season with an adventure across the pond in the regional premiere of Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanely, one the most celebrated contemporary playwrights. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® for his play Doubt and an Academy Award for his film Moonstruck, he is also the screenwriter and director of the cult classic Joe Versus the Volcano. Outside Mullingar takes audiences to lush Ireland with a charming story of two families and their journey with fate as the vast countryside teaches them about identity, heritage, and love. Join ETC as Irish banter, family loyalty, and Guinness (of course!) floods the stage in this romantic comedy, playing May 5-24, 2015.

This production welcomes a powerhouse ensemble cast: Dales Hodges, Jen Joplin, Joneal Joplin, and Brian Isaac Phillips. ETC is also pleased to welcome back Guest Director Ed Stern for Outside Mullingar.

Tony Reilly is getting old. With his wife dead and gone and his own time approaching, he threatens to leave the family's cattle farm to an American nephew instead of his own son, Anthony. That is, until neighbor Rosemary steps in with a long-held family secret to change Anthony's fate?-?and her own. Set in the Irish countryside, this is the story of Anthony and Rosemary?-?loners, eccentric souls, and, perhaps, just right for each other.

"John Patrick Shanley writes so beautifully from the heart and about the heart," explains Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. "He has a real gift for capturing how difficult love is to be fully realized. He takes us to a place where the land is eternal and generations old. I love the fact that the play celebrates the inheritance of that kind of legacy." Director Ed Stern adds, "I love the inherent optimism of the play. Despite loneliness and suffering, love will find a way. How rare in theatre today."