Full Cast and Creative Team Set for THE KEENERS Industry Reading

The complete cast and creative team has been revealed for the exclusive developmental industry reading of The Keeners, a new play with music by Barbara Grecki, directed by Grecki and James A. Rocco, taking place October 20–21, 2025 at Pearl Studios. This AEA Tier 1 presentation is by invitation only.

Set in 1970s Ireland, The Keeners follows a resilient family of women who earn their living “keening” — singing laments at wakes. When a charismatic band promoter arrives promising fame and fortune, their world is turned upside down. Blending sharp humor, haunting music, and deep emotional truth, the play explores grief, resilience, and the tension between tradition and change.

The cast includes Terry Donnelly (Irish Rep, Abbey Theatre) as Margaret Malin; Kate Flanagan (Classic Stage Company, Cannes Film Festival selection Erstwhile) as Brigid Malin; Emma O'Donnell (Irish Rep, Guthrie Theatre) as Mary Pat Malin; Stavros Koumbaros (Les Misérables National Tour, Lotte Lenya Competition Finalist) as Michael Malin; Brooke Davis (Menopause The Musical, Orange Is the New Black) as Keira Moynihan; Ciaran Byrne (Philadelphia Here I Come, Marvel Studios' Daredevil: Born Again) as Cillian Conroy; John Keating (The Weir, Translations) as Dennis Feeney; and Cole Kaplan (Sprawl, NYU Tisch Drama Award Winner) as Paddy Sullivan / The Boy.

The creative team features Barbara Grecki as playwright and co-director; James A. Rocco as producer and co-director (33 Variations, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt, Mickey Rooney & Roseanne, Singin’ in the Rain in Tokyo; Broadway in CATS as The Rum Tum Tugger; touring vocalist with Herbie Hancock; creator of The Songbook Series and CEO of Thirty Saints Productions); Gilda Lyons as composer for Keening Recordings; Chris Ranney as music supervisor (Music Director, Come From Away); Brendan Dalton as dialect coach; Bruce Alan Johnson as stage manager (Original Broadway, Sunset Blvd. as Joe Gillis); Julia Walker as associate stage manager; and Emily Villano as production associate (Thirty Saints Productions).

Lyons's haunting keening recordings, created for the project, infuse the piece with an authentic and contemporary resonance. “The research and recording process was intensely personal and layered,” says Lyons. “I'm deeply moved by the immensity of The Irish Tradition of mourning out loud.”