Irish Repertory Theatre Unveils NEW WORKS FALL FESTIVAL 2026 Lineup

Irish Repertory Theatre revealed the lineup for the New Works Fall Festival 2026, which will run November 2 – November 23, 2026. Irish Repertory Theatre cultivates and supports new projects that explore Irish and Irish-American stories, including representing people of all ethnicities, genders, abilities, and orientations. Across table reads, staged readings, workshops, and commissions, Irish Rep's New Play Development Program nurtures new plays and musicals at all stages of development. The New Works Festival returns this November with four new play readings and one workshop performance. The New Play Development Program enables Irish Rep to nurture new shows for possible future productions and share these works aloud with an audience.

Since the inception of this series, four plays have gone on to their New York premieres on Irish Rep's mainstage: Irishtown by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth (NWFF 2023), The Beacon by Nancy Harris (NWFF 2023), The Honey Trap by Leo McGann (NWFF 2024), and The Loved Ones by Erica Murray (NWFF 2025).

The New Works Fall Festival 2026 will include plays by Chris Gethard, Iseult Golden & David Horan, Karis Kelly, Hannah Khalil, and Eoin McAndrew. The readings will be directed by Bailey Bass, Nicola Murphy Dubey, Kimberly Senior, and Keelie Sheridan. Sound Design is by Caroline Eng and Katie Barnhard and Mary Garrigan will be the Stage Managers. Casting will be announced at a later date.

Each reading will begin at 7pm and will take place on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage. The workshop performance will take place in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre. Tickets to all events are $20 and are available at irishrep.org.

The New Works Fall Festival 2026 lineup is as follows:

LITTLE BROTHER

By Eoin McAndrew
Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey
Monday November 2
Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
“I'd like you to promise me that you're not going to try and set yourself on fire again.”

It's 3AM. Brigid's phone rings. Her brother Niall is by the river with a plastic bag and lighter fluid. Little Brother is Eoin McAndrew's darkly comic new play about sibling love, self-destruction, and what it means to save someone who doesn't want to be saved. Set in modern-day Belfast, it asks what happens when the systems designed to help us fall short, and love is doing more heavy lifting than it should. Winner of the 2024 Verity Bargate Award, Eoin McAndrew's play premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Emma Jordan.

CONSUMED

By Karis Kelly
Directed by Keelie Sheridan
Monday November 9
Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

A 90th birthday party that nobody seems to want. Four generations of Northern Irish women, reunited under one roof. The house is full of hungry ghosts, with more than one skeleton in the closet.

Consumed was originally produced by Paines Plough, Belgrade Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and the Women's Prize for Playwrighting, in association with the Lyric Belfast. It was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre on 25 July 2025 and subsequently transferred to the Traverse Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe on 31 July 2025.

CLASS

By Iseult Golden & David Horan
Directed by Bailey Bass
Tuesday November 10
Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

Brian and Donna's son is nine years old and he's struggling. His teacher says he should see a psychologist. But Brian and Donna – recently separated – never liked school, never trusted teachers. An explosive triple confrontation that is funny, heartbreaking and beautifully observed, Iseult Golden & David Horan's Class is an award-winning play about learning difficulties: in school, in life, wherever.

After a sold-out run in the Dublin Theatre Festival 2017, Class transferred to The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in January 2018 before playing in the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018. Class won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award and was named Best Theatre Script at the 2018 ZeBBie Awards awarded by the Writers Guild of Ireland.

THE 33RD COUNTY

By Hannah Khalil
Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey
Monday November 16
Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage

It's 1950s London, and the Irish Emigrés are homesick. They arrive to build roads and find better lives, only to hear “No Blacks No Dogs No Irish.” They break their backs toiling by day, counting the hours to the weekend when they can let off steam at their Kilburn club. There, at the club, they find a few brief moments of respite, where they can dance, sing, maybe even fall in love. The 33rd County is a play with music based on interviews conducted by the playwright with people who traversed the Irish sea looking for brighter horizons. The heart of the play beats through traditional Irish folk songs. The timeless lyrics and melodies reflect the aches and hopes of the immigrant community, both past and present.

POP!

By Chris Gethard
Directed by Kimberly Senior
Monday November 23
W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre

In this new workshop performance, Chris Gethard (HBO's “Career Suicide,” “Beautiful/Anonymous,” “The Office”) reflects on his grandfather's decision to immigrate to America.

“In 1928, my grandfather left a small village in Northern Ireland and eventually made his way to America. 100 years later I ask: was it worth it? If he knew America (see Minneapolis, MN and Newark, NJ) was going to wind up looking so much like Northern Ireland (see Belfast, Derry, etc), would he have sacrificed everything?”

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