11 PRODUCTIONS IN COMPETITION COMING TO ORIGIN 1st IRISH 2025
17TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL RUNS APRIL 1 TO 28 IN VENUES ACROSS NEW YORK
FISHAMBLE’S “FIGHT NIGHT” OPENS FESTIVAL
Origin 1st Irish 2025 is presenting 5 Irish imports and 6 locally-produced plays as part of this year’s theater festival. The 17th annual edition of the only festival of its kind devoted to producing and presenting the theatrical work of contemporary Irish playwrights from around the world takes place from April 1 to April 28 in three boroughs. Read on for the complete schedule.
IN COMPETITION FROM IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELANDCOMPETITION FROM IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND
1/ The festival’s opening night on Tue Apr 1 will be the first night of “Fight Night” at 59E59 Theaters, one of two productions from Fishamble The New Play Company, based in Dublin. Gavin Kostick’s play tells the gripping comeback story of a failed amateur boxer who is from a long line of accomplished fighters. Directed by Bryan Burroughs, and starring Aonghus Og McAnally. Winner of Best Actor and Bewley’s Little Gem awards at Dublin Fringe, and nominated Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards. "McAnally and Kostick deliver a knockout blow…Extraordinary… Stark, exhilarating, and cathartic." – The Irish Times. (at 59E59 Theaters Apr 1 to 20). TICKETS & SCHED
2/ “In Two Minds” by Joanne Ryan, and directed by Sarah Jane Scaife, premiered in the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2023, winning of the Best New Play award at the Green Room Awards. This delicate piece grappling with mental health, love and humanity features Pom Boyd (“The Dry”) and Karen McCartney (“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”); it finds insight in the darkness, humour in the pain and tenderness in difficult family dynamics. “Brilliantly performed’ - The Guardian. “A stunning performance’ - ★★★★ The Scotsman. “…this moving work feels utterly authentic’ - Irish Independent (at 59E59 Theaters Apr 2 to 20) TICKETS & SCHED
3/ Winner of the Fishamble New Writing Award 2022 Tom Moran’s hilarious solo show “Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar,” introduces us to Tom, a charismatic people-pleaser, expert in empathy, and someone who struggles with the truth. Join Tom as he seeks to exorcise ghosts, tell us all his deepest secrets, and somehow unfuck his future. This is the first leg of a US tour. (at the Irish Repertory Theatre in W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre, Apr 15 to 20) TICKETS
4/ Everyone is flocking to Sinead O’Brien’s 5-star Edinburgh Fringe hit “No One Is Coming,” from Fairplay Productions. Heralded as a “storytelling masterclass” by To Do List London, “No One Is Coming” is a dark comedy of mythical proportions about a daughter and mother’s turbulent relationship. Fusing old Irish folklore with modern day mammy issues to process her mother’s mental health, this is the peripatetic Irish theater maker’s first full solo show (though she has been on the storytelling circuit in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands), and boy is it a doozy! Directed by Labhaoise Magee (for sure worth the trek to the Irish enclave in Riverdale An Beal Bocht, home of Poor Mouth Theatre, Sat Apr 5 at 7pm and Sun Apr 6, at 2pm)
5/ New festival mainstay Big Telly, one of Northern Ireland’s leading theatre companies, invites you to attend the wake of beloved Granny Jackson, who meant so much to so many! Devised by Zoe Seaton and the company, “Granny Jackson Is Dead” is a life-giving immersive experience in which her devoted, adoring, beautiful, hardworking, long-suffering, generous-to-a-fault daughter Susan, and the entire family throw open the doors at 47 Malone Road for an orgy of grief. P.S. if you are not able to attend in person the service will also be streamed across several platforms and mixed realities by Darren Jackson, Granny’s grandson. This performance uses flashing lights, loud noises, and immersive technology. Themes of death and grief run rampant. Produced in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Inis Nua and Tiny Dynamite. Incidentally, Big Telly nabbed last year’s Festival’s Innovation Award for the memorable “The Worst Café.” (at the American Irish Historical Society multiple shows daily Thur to Sat Apr 24, 25, 26, at 6pm and 8pm)
These imported shows are all generously supported by Culture Ireland. All are US and NY premieres except for “No One Is Coming” which will be seen in a sneak preview Mar 11 to 16 at The Wild Project.
2/ In “A Cop, a Cabbie and a Crusader,” radio personality and veteran cabbie John McDonagh is joined by two of his favorite storytelling cohorts -- retired NYPD officer Al Gonzales and Irish activist Brendan Fay. Produced by McDonagh, whose favorite moniker is the Bard of Gridlock, this unique storytelling trifecta triangulates stories about New York City in the “good ol’ days,” whatever they are, comparing them to the New York of today… whatever that is. Are they totally different? You be the judge. Performed on alternating nights (at Ernie O’Malley’s, Sat Apr 5 at 4pm; at the Greek Cultural Center, Sat Apr 12 at 5pm; at the Irish Rep Mon Apr 21, at 7pm) TIX ERNIE & TIX IRISH REP
3/ “Breezy Point,” a new play by Rosie Coursey, directed by Hannah Ciesil, produced by Ayla Rosen. After a cynical teen inherits her family’s cottage in Breezy Point, Queens upon the death of her estranged father, a whirlwind adventure is set in motion when an Irish faerie trapped under dad’s television for 50 years is suddenly set free. Featuring Madeleine Bohn, Hannah Victoria Collins, Jasmine Johnson, and Korey Brown, “Breezy Point” is performed 7 times (at the Churchill Tavern Sun to Tue April 6, 7, 8 at 7pm; Sun to Tue April 13, 14, 15 at 7pm; and Sun April 27 at 7pm). TICKETS
4/ Actor Alan Smyth reprises his tour de force performance in Marie Jones’s acclaimed play “A Night in November” about one of the most explosive nights in The Troubles. It’s November 1993, and Northern Ireland faces the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifying match at Windsor Park in Belfast. The game is made all the more consequential since it occurs just weeks after the Shankhill Bomb, and The Greysteel Massacre. Heralded as “a rich, rewarding and provocative piece of theatre" by The Sunday Tribune, Jones’s “A Night in November” is masterfully carried by Smyth, who, according to Irish Arts and Entertainment, “inhabits each of the characters with such care and specificity, the audience is almost unaware they are watching a single individual...” Directed by Tim Reynolds. A winner, by the author of “Stones in His Pockets.” Not to be missed! (at the New York Irish Center Wed Apr 16 at 7pm) TICKETS
5/ Beloved raconteur Ed Gavagan trots out excerpts of his one-man show “Loud Memory” in his bracing true-tale one-man story “Loud Memory,” an epic saga of the best and worst the city has to offer; told with humor, a keen eye for detail and a sardonic appreciation for the vagaries of life in New York City. The Moth’s longtime artistic director Catherine Burns directs this unique five-night stand (at Ernie O’Malley’s Apr 11 to 19)
6/ 1st Irish welcomes back “Bumbled” by Bernard McMullan & Colin Hamell, in a special encore of last year’s festival favorite. Starring Colin Hamell, “Bumbled tells the touching story of Pascal, a high-achieving Irish honey bee, as he sets out to tell the world about the importance of bees, save the planet, and find true happiness with his French girlfriend, Marion. All while trying to avoid his balls exploding, his manhood falling off and certain death. The one-bee crowd-pleaser was unaccountably left out of the awards last year, which led to the short-lived protest movement #Originalltoohuman. Directed by Carmel O’Reilly, “Bumbled” is co-produced by Boston-based Tir Na Theatre and Here Comes Everybody. (at Pangea Tue & Wed Apr 22 and 23, both at 7pm)
Participating theatres and cultural organizations include the American Irish Historical Society, 59E59 Theaters, the Irish Repertory Theatre, 54 Below, Ernie O’Malley’s, Pangea and Churchill Tavern, in Manhattan; the NY Irish Center, and the Greek Cultural Center in Queens, and An Beal Bocht in The Bronx. Tickets for the Festival at www.origingtheatre.org.