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Theater
1st Irish Festival: Marriage, Monsters & More On The Stage
- Details
- Parent Category: Other Festivals
- Category: Theater
- Published on Tuesday, 03 January 2023 20:26
- Written by Brad Balfour
Now in its 15th installment and returniong to in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the Origin Theatre’s 1st Irish festival returns in 2023. Running three weeks from Monday January 9 to Tuesday January 31 at venues across the citincluding the 59E59 Theaters, the Irish Repertory Theatre, the Irish Arts Center,The Cell, and Symphony Space in Manhattan; the NY Irish Center in Queens, and An Beal Bocht in The Bronx. The 1st Irish Festival features productions, readings, workshops, and more from Ireland and the United States.
The Festival opens officially with the US premiere of “Heaven” produced by Dublin’s Olivier Award-winning Fishamble theatre company. Written by Eugene O’Brien (winner of the Rooney Prize for Literature for “Eden”), and directed by Jim Culleton (Irish Times Best Director Award winner 2019), “Heaven,” Set in County Offaly, Ireland during the weekend of a local wedding, guests Mairead and Mal are struggling to keep their marriage together. Perhaps attending a wedding will help, or it might raise questions that are difficult to answer. “Heaven” examines family bonds, life decisions, and the search for happiness in contemporary Ireland.
“Frankenstein's Monster Is Drunk And The Sheep Have All Jumped The Fences” follows the titular creature, dejected at the end of his career in Hollywood, he goes off in search of love in a remote village.
“Endgame” tells the story of Hamm (John Douglas Thompson) who is reduced to living in one room, in which he sits chair bound, blind and bored. His only deliverance from this interminable monotony is the company of his aging, legless parents (Joe Grifasi and Patrice Johnson), who live in garbage bins and his limping servant, Clov (Bill Irwin), who is at his beck and call, and who like a dog comes when whistled for. The only thing left for Hamm is to wait for the inevitable end.
Among the Festival highlights: a mini festival-within-the-festival at the cell -- “Femme First” – featuring workshop productions of three new plays by local women playwrights. Seen in rep at the cell the series includes “Great White American Teeth” written and performed by Fiona Walsh; “The Funny Thing About Death,” written and performed by Kim Kalish, and “It’s in the Play,” written by Orlagh Cassidy and Kate Lardner and performed by Cassidy.
To learn more, go to: https://www.origintheatre.org/
1st Irish Festival
January 9 - 31, 2023
Various Venues Throughout New York
Festival de la Posibilidad Brings Free Arts & Theater for All Ages
- Details
- Parent Category: Other Festivals
- Category: Theater
- Published on Thursday, 07 July 2022 18:22
- Written by Brad Balfour
The theater and the arts are for everyone, and the Festival de la Posibilidad is coming to New York’s lower east side to spread that message. Organized by the Foundation for New American Art, an art education nonprofit dedicated to nurturing the visionary artists of tomorrow, Festival de La Posibilidad is a two-day festival of multi-cultural arts, music, dance and creative experiences for all ages held at The Clemente Cultural and Educational Center.
Events include:
- Tamir Hargana, a Mongolian Throat Singer who plays many instruments including the “Horse Guitar.” Tamir is known for combining Heavy Metal and traditional Mongolian vocals.
- Maria Raquel, a charismatic singer from Medellin, Columbia with a powerful voice. Maria is an ambassador for Latin American music.
- Salieu Suso, an “edu-tainer” from Africa. Salieu is a culture bearer from the thousand-year old Griot tradition who plays the Kora.
- -Master of Ceremonies will be Phoebe Legere, (Abenaki/Cajun) President of the Foundation for New American Art. Phoebe will present and interview the artists in Spanish and English.
The Festival also includes workshops, painting tutorials, dance lessons and more.
To learn more, go to: https://foundationfornewamericanart.org/festival.html
Festival de la Posibilidad
July 16 - 17, 2022
The Clemente Cultural and Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street
New York, NY 10002
Spend Memorial Day Weekend with the 27th Annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts
- Details
- Parent Category: Other Festivals
- Category: Theater
- Published on Thursday, 26 May 2022 14:16
- Written by Brad Balfour
A fixture of offbeat theatrics and performance art, The Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is back for it’s 27th annual installment. Running May 27 to the 29th at the Theater for the New City (155 1st Ave, NY NY), the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts encompases dance, film, theater, poetry, art and more. The Theater for the New City was founded in 1970 with the goal of creating new spaces for new forms of expression, and the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is part of that tradition. The festival is free with indoor and outdoor activities for all ages.
To learn more, go to: https://theaterforthenewcity.net/
27th Annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts
May 27 - 29, 2022
Theater for the New City
155 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003
14th Annual 1st Irish Festival: Irish History, Fantasy, & Reality on Stage
- Details
- Parent Category: Other Festivals
- Category: Theater
- Published on Friday, 07 January 2022 10:28
- Written by Brad Balfour
Encompassing Irish theater and cinema, the 1st Irish Festival runs January 9th to the 31st, 2022. The festival is put on by the Origin Theatre Company, which promotes European theater in New York. The festival is held online as well as at the Irish Arts Center (726 11th Ave, New York, NY 10019) and other locations.
Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Enquiry is a reading of a play based on direct testimony, marking the 50th anniversary of this seismic turning point in the history of Northern Ireland. Rising, a film by Fallen Angel Theatre’s Aedín Moloney, was shot during COVID and contemplates the question, “what does rising from the dark into the light mean to you right now?”
Boann and the Well of Wisdom is a more modern spin on an Irish myth as a young girl contemplates what to do with her family’s pub she stands to inherit. In A Bolt from D’Blue (in his New York acting debut) at 1st Irish, David Gilna recounts his electrifying story of being hit by lightning on a beautiful sunny day in Boston. Performed at the Irish Rep, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing, based on Eimear McBride’s highly acclaimed novel, stars Jenn Murray following the inner narrative of a girl from birth to the age of 20, as she navigates the crushing Catholicism and hardship of her childhood with astonishing intelligence.
For those looking to mingle but unable to come to the theater, there’s Origin's 2nd, "1st Irish" Zoom mixer. An opportunity to connect with artists from Newry to New York. This free event will take a look at "Working from Home". It is hosted by Vivant Global Talent Development manager Christine McKenna-Tirella & AboutFace Ireland Co-Artistic Director Anna Nugent.
To learn more, go to: https://www.origintheatre.org/
1st Irish Festival
January 9 - 31, 2022
Various Locations & Online
