Kennedy Center presents The Cripple of Inishmaan in the Eisenhower Theater

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents DRUID and Atlantic Theater Company's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan running February 8 to 12 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. The play is written by Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh and directed by Tony Award® winner Garry Hynes, the first woman to win a Tony Award® for Best Direction. Press night will take place on February 9, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

Set in rural Ireland in 1934, this dark comedy depicts the impact that a Hollywood film crew has over the local residents when it shows up to document the tiny island of Inishmore. When a young, orphaned "cripple" named Billy Claven is selected for a part in the film, his dreams of escape take flight.

The cast includes Liam Carney as BabbyBobby, Nancy E. Carroll as Mammy O'Dougal, Ingrid Craigie as Kate, Dermot Crowley as JohnnyPateenMike, Clare Dunne as Slippy Helen, Laurence Kinlan as Bartley, Dearbhla Molloy as Eileen, Tadhg Murphy as Billy Claven, and Paul Vincent O'Connor as Doctor McSharry.

Premiered by The National Theatre, London in 1997, DRUID first presented The Cripple of Inishmaan in September 2008. Directed by Garry Hynes, the production toured Ireland and the UK, and ran for three months at the Atlantic Theater in New York, attracting the highest attendance ever for a production at the theater. It went on to win a total of nine major international awards with honors including the Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Direction.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is playwright Martin McDonagh's fourth production with Druid. His previous plays include A Behanding in Spokane (Schoenfeld Theater, Broadway, 2010); The Pillowman (National Theatre, London, 2003; Booth Theatre, Broadway, 2005); The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2001; Lyceum Theatre, Broadway, 2006); The Lonesome West (Druid /Royal Court Theatre co-production, 1997; Lyceum Theatre, Broadway, 1999); A Skull in Connemara (Druid /Royal Court Theatre co-production, 1997); The Cripple of Inishmaan (National Theatre, London, 1997); and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Druid /Royal Court Theatre co-production,1996; Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway, 1998). His film scripts include In Bruges (BAFTA Award for Original Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination), Six Shooter (Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short Film), Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri.

Director Garry Hynes founded Druid in 1975 and has worked as its Artistic Director from 1975 to 1991, and from 1995 to date. From 1991 to 1994 she was Ar­tistic Director of The Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Ms. Hynes has also worked with the Abbey and Gate Theatres in Ireland; the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court in the UK; Atlantic Theater, New York City Center Encores!, Second Stage, Signature Theatre, and Manhattan Theatre Club in New York; and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Awards include the Joe A. Callaway Award in New York for Outstanding Directing for The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh (2009); Honorary Doctorates from the University of Dublin (2004), the National University of Ireland (1998), and the National Council for Education Awards (1988), and a Tony Award® for Direction for The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998). She is a recipient of many other theater awards, including The Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Award for Best Director and a Special Tribute Award for her con­tribution to Irish Theatre (2005).

The production features set and costume design by Francis O'Connor, lighting design by Davy Cunningham, sound design by John Leonard, and music by Colin Towns.

In addition to Washington, DC, Druid's five-month US tour in spring 2011 includes Ann Arbor, MI; Berkeley, CA; Boston, MA; Charleston, SC; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New Haven, CT; and Philadelphia, PA, as well as an exciting Irish tour which will bring the production to the island of Inis Meáin for the first time.

ABOUT DRUID
DRUID was founded by graduates of the National University of Ireland, Galway, Garry Hynes, Mick Lally, and Marie Mullen and has had two artistic directors: Garry Hynes (1975-91 and 1995 to date) and Maeliosa Stafford (1991-94). Productions include: The Silver Tassie (Galway, Irish tour & UK); The Gigli Concert (Galway Arts Festival & Irish tour); The Walworth Farce (World tour); The New Electric Ballroom; The Cripple of Inishmaan (Irish & UK tour and Atlantic Theater, New York); Long Day's Journey into Night (Galway and Dublin Theatre Festival); Leaves (Galway and Royal Court Theatre, London); Empress of India (Galway and Dublin Theatre Festival); The Year of the Hiker (Galway and Irish tour); DruidSynge (Galway Arts Festival, Dublin, Edinburgh International Festival, Inis Meáin; Minneapolis, Lincoln Center Festival New York); Sharon's Grave; Sive; On Raftery's Hill; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Leenane Trilogy (Royal Court co-productions); Lovers' Meeting; Conversations on a Homecoming; Bailegangaire; The Shaugh­raun; The Wood of the Whispering. Druid productions have won more than 50 awards including four Tony Awards® for The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

ABOUT Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) is the award-winning Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to producing great plays simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble. Since its inception, Atlantic has produced more than 125 productions including the Tony Award®-winning play The Beauty Queen of Leenane (with Druid and Royal Court), the world premieres of Academy Award® winner Ethan Coen's comedies Almost an Evening and Offices, David Mamet's Romance and his adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance, the musical Spring Awakening, and double-bills of Harold Pinter's Celebration and The Room and The Collection and A Kind of Alaska.

TICKET INFORMATION
Performances for The Cripple of Inishmaan run in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater from February 8 to 12, 2011. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at kennedy-center.org or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324.

DRUID's The Cripple of Inishmaan is made possible through the generosity of Culture Ireland.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is presented as part of Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland's year-long season of Irish arts in America in 2011.

Culture Ireland is the state agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide, working under the aegis of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. Culture Ireland creates and supports opportunities for Irish artists to present their work at international festivals, venues, showcases and arts markets, in order to ensure that diverse contemporary Irish cultural practice and Irish artists are understood and valued internationally.

International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

For more information, please visit the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org.