Simone Kirby Joins MOLLY SWEENEY At Irish Rep

Off-Broadway's Irish Repertory Theatre welcomes noted Irish actress Simone Kirby, who portrayed Molly Sweeney in a UK revival last year, garnering critical acclaim, to its hit revival of Tony Award-winning playwright Brian Friel's MOLLY SWEENEY - the story of a blind woman who undergoes an operation to try to restore her sight. Ms. Kirby joins co-stars Jonathan Hogan and Ciarán O'Reilly, beginning March 9, with performances set to run through April 10 at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) in Manhattan.

Charlotte Moore, who helmed the company's recent productions of A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES, THE IRISH...AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY, ERNEST IN LOVE, WHITE WOMAN STREET, and BRIGADOON IN CONCERT at
Broadway's Shubert Theatre, directs.

In MOLLY SWEENEY, Ireland's master storyteller Brian Friel (DANCING AT LUGHNASA, TRANSLATIONS, PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME!) has devised a riveting contemporary drama about the terrible consequences of a medical miracle. Molly has sat in happy, capable, independent darkness since she was ten months old. When her husband, a restless, unemployed enthusiast makes her blindness his latest cause, he consults a once famous star surgeon who, despite being half drowned in Irish whiskey agrees to attempt to restore Molly's sight.

When the bandages come off, remarkable revelations ensue. The privacy of blindness is assaulted. Can one "learn to see"? Or will the shock of realization overwhelm a beautiful woman who has never seen her face! Mr. Friel's fascinating journey plunges deeply into the secrets and hearts of three extraordinary characters who lower the veil and allow us into their very private lives.

Simone Kirby returns to the role of Molly Sweeney, having portrayed the titular character in a revival at Leicester, England's Curve Theatre in 2010. Originally from County Clare, Ireland, Ms. Kirby's credits include Druid Theatre Company's THE TINKER'S WEDDING, performed abroad and at Lincoln Center, and THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD; Abbey Theatre productions of THE CAVALCADERS and THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL; Gate Theatre's production of FESTEN; and DON CARLOS for Dublin's Rough Magic Theatre Company.

MOLLY SWEENEY also co-stars Tony Award nominee Jonathan Hogan (AS IS, BURN THIS, FIFTH OF JULY, HOT L BALTIMORE); and Ciarán O'Reilly (last seen Off-Broadway in Irish Repertory's revivals of CANDIDA and Brian Friel's ARISTOCRATS).

Ms. Kirby replaces Geraldine Hughes, who leaves the cast to join the Broadway production of JERUSALEM, which is rehearsing in London.

What the UK critics wrote about Simone Kirby in MOLLY SWEENEY at Curve Theatre, Leicester last year: "A compelling central performance from Simone Kirby." (Alfred Hickling, Guardian); "I found myself completely absorbed by this story of a blind woman who partially recovers her sight. There is a deeply touching performance from Simone Kirby as the initially confident Molly, quite content in her blindness, who declines harrowingly in the course of the drama." (Charles Spencer,
The Telegraph); "Simone Kirby gets right inside the skin of Molly Sweeney, and her first appearance in the play burns itself on the mind. Kirby shines as she talks and moves in a play that makes huge demands on both actor and audience. This is Friel at his intense and insightful best." (Pat Ashworth, The Stage).

Playwright Brian Friel is best known for his Tony Award-winning play DANCING AT LUGHNASA, TRANSLATIONS, and Tony Award-nominated play PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME! which was revived at Irish Repertory Theatre in 2005. His plays ARISTOCRATS and MAKING HISTORY were
presented at Irish Rep. in 1991 and 2009, respectively, directed by Ms. Moore. Mr. Friel's other plays include FAITH HEALER, WONDERFUL TENNESSEE, THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY, THE MUNDY SCHEME and among others, the Tony Award-nominated LOVERS. MOLLY SWEENEY opened at the Gate Theatre in 1994, and transferred to The Almeida Theatre in London prior to its original Off-Broadway production in 1996, which garnered Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics' awards for best play.

MOLLY SWEENEY has set design by James Morgan; costume design by Linda Fisher; lighting design by Richard Pilbrow & Michael Gottlieb; and sound design by Zachary Williamson. Production stage manager is Pamela Brusoski.

Co-founded by Producing Director Ciarán O'Reilly and Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, The Irish Repertory Theatre opened its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS. The mission of the theatre was and remains to bring works by Irish and Irish American masters and contemporary playwrights to American audiences; to provide a context for understanding the contemporary Irish American experience; and to encourage the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish American experience, as well as a range of other cultures.

Extended through April 10, MOLLY SWEENEY runs at The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues): Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm; plus 3pm matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $55 and $65, and are available by calling
212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.