TRANSLATIONS Extended at Irish Repertory Theatre Through End of December

Irish Repertory Theatre's Translations has received a four-week extension and will now play through Sunday December 31, 2023. Originally set to close on December 3, Translations began previews on Friday October 20, 2023, and opened Sunday October 29 on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street).
 
Directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, A Parable), Translations is the first production in The Friel Project, a retrospective of the work of renowned Irish playwright Brian Friel, celebrating Irish Rep’s 35th Anniversary, to take place from October 2023 through May 2024.
 
Irish Repertory Theatre is producing its debut production of Brian Friel’s Translations as the first installment of The Friel Project. The play takes place in late August 1833 at a hedge-school in the townland of Baile Beag - an Irish speaking community in County Donegal. Strangers have arrived in town in the form of a detachment of Royal Engineers engaged on behalf of the British Army and Government to “standardize” the Gaelic name places by translating them into English. There is friction in the community and there is also love and romance between the native and the strangers. Translations illuminates the significance of language at scales both large and small and questions the meaning of cultural expression and identity in an Ireland under British rule.

The cast of Translations includes Raffi Barsoumian (Privacy), Owen Campbell (Hangmen), Rufus Collins (The Dead, 1904), John Keating (Autumn Royal), Owen Laheen (Belfast Girls), Seán McGinley (Ages of the Moon), Seth Numrich (Leopoldstadt), Oona Roche (“The Morning Show”), Erin Wilhelmi (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Mary Wiseman (An Octoroon). Katie Fabel (A Child’s Christmas in Wales), Reed Lancaster (A Child’s Christmas in Wales) and David Sitler (Donnybrook) serve as understudies.
 
Translations features scenic design by Charlie Corcoran (Endgame), costume design by Alejo Vietti (A Touch of the Poet), lighting design by Michael Gottlieb (Endgame), sound design by Ryan Rumery (A Touch of the Poet) & M. Florian Staab (Endgame), original music by Ryan Rumery, and properties by Deirdre Brennan (Endgame). Conor Bagley is the Associate Director, James FitzSimmons is the Production Stage Manager, and Shanna Allison is the Stage Manager. Casting is by JZ Casting, Geoff Josselson, CSA and Katja Zarolinski, CSA.
 
Translations was first presented by Field Day Theatre Company at the Guildhall in Derry, 1980.
 
The performance schedule for Translations is as follows: Wednesdays at 2pm & 7pm, Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 7pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Exceptions: there will be no performances on Thursday November 23 and Sunday December 24. There will be additional performances on Tuesdays November 21 and December 19 at 7pm. The Sunday December 31 performance will be at 2pm.
 
Tickets for Translations start at $55 and are available at IrishRep.org. A 10% discount will be applied for patrons who purchase tickets to all three productions. Irish Rep members receive this discount in addition to their usual 20% discount.
 
The Friel Project will feature three of Friel’s works set in Ballybeg, a fictional town in Donegal, Ireland: Translations (1980) directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, A Parable), Aristocrats (1979) directed by Artistic Director Charlotte Moore (Two by Synge) and Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964) directed by Producing Director Ciarán O’Reilly (Endgame). The Friel Project will also include selected concert readings from the playwright’s vast canon and additional planned events culminating in an exhibit in the Irish Repertory Gallery. Casts, additional creative team members, and further season event details will be announced at later dates.
 
Brian Friel (9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest dramatists, having written over 30 plays across six decades. He was a member of Aosdána, the society of Irish artists, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Irish Academy of Letters, and the Royal Society of Literature where he was made a Companion of Literature. He was awarded the Ulysses Medal by University College, Dublin. His plays include Hedda Gabler (after Ibsen), The Home Place, Performances, Three Plays After (Afterplay, The Bear, The Yalta Game), Uncle Vanya (after Chekhov), Give Me Your Answer Do!, Molly Sweeney (Winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play), Wonderful Tennessee, A Month in the Country (after Turgenev), The London Vertigo (after Charles Macklin), Dancing at Lughnasa (Winner of 3 Tony Awards including Best Play, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Olivier Award for Best Play), Making History, The Communication Cord, American Welcome, Three Sisters (after Chekhov), Translations, Aristocrats (Winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play), Faith Healer, Fathers and Sons, Living Quarters, Volunteers, The Freedom of the City, The Gentle Island, The Mundy Scheme, Crystal and Fox, Lovers: Winners and Losers, The Loves of Cass Maguire, Philadelphia Here I Come!.
 

IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE

 
IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE, co-founded by Producing Director Ciarán O'Reilly and Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, is now in its 35th season after first opening its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars. Irish Rep is currently the only year-round theatre company in New York City devoted to bringing Irish and Irish American works to the stage. Recognized with the Jujamcyn Theatres Award, a special Drama Desk Award for “Excellence in Presenting Distinguished Irish Drama,” an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the Lucille Lortel Award for “Outstanding Body of Work,” Irish Rep celebrates the very best in Irish theatre, from the masters to the new generation of Irish and Irish American writers who are transforming the stage. Nearly 50,000 audience members annually attend productions at Irish Rep’s theatre located in the heart of New York’s Off-Broadway community. Once here, they witness Irish Rep’s engaging perspective on the Irish and their unique contributions to the world of drama.
 

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