Irish Arts Center

The United States vs Ulysses

May 9, 2025

"The United States vs Ulysses" by Colin Murphy is a multi-layered play about a seminal case concerning censorship in publishing. The story is set in 1933 in the studios of the CBS radio show "The March of Time." The radio show reenacted recent news stories, including one about the trial of James Joyce’s then controversial novel "Ulysses," but the tapes of it no longer exist. Murphy imagined what that show may have been like, and it forms the framework of the play. [more]

Safe House

February 23, 2025

"Safe House" is an amorphous mosaic of sight and sound just out of reach of being any one thing. It is at once a song cycle, memory play, comedy, tragedy, a visual and aural potpourri of sensation resembling a modern avant-garde opera more than a theatrical musical or play with music. Written and directed by Enda Walsh with music by electronic-acoustic composer Anna Mullarkey, the show tells the story of Grace, a young, homeless Irish woman living on a handball court in Galway. According to Walsh, it is a story of survival in the chaotic jumble of memories mixed with dreams and fantasies of a different life. [more]

The Mysterious Case of Kitsy Rainey

November 1, 2023

Mikel Murfi skillfully brings to life a handful of colorful characters in a rural town where Farnon is the cobbler. The transitions from one character to the next are done with shifts in posture and tone of voice that imbues each transition with the physical and verbal nuances that define the character. It is an interesting tale, rough in places and a bit too long in exposition, but well told by a seasoned actor whose performance is worth spending time on. [more]

Good Vibrations: A Punk Rock Musical

July 6, 2023

Terri Hooley (a game, genial Glen Wallace) is both the main character and the narrator of "Good Vibrations: A Punk Rock Musical" at the sparkling Irish Arts Center. How he morphed from Terry to Terri is a bloody tale that opens the show, albeit with a bit of winking Irish humor. Written by Colin Carberry and Glenn Patterson, "Good Vibrations" takes place in the 1970’s in a Belfast rife with violence, at the height of the inter-religious disturbances in Northern Ireland called The Troubles and is based on the 2012 film of the same name (which they also wrote). Terri Hooley is a real person and Good Vibrations paints a mostly complimentary portrait of this man who was so important to the music scene in Belfast. [more]

Conversations After Sex

February 28, 2023

Setting aside societal shame and judgment, anonymous sexual encounters have their benefits. If the chemistry works, then there’s the immediate gratification in the form of pleasure. If the connection isn’t perfect, then deciding to make a quick exit (either before or after the experience) can be awkward, as well as deciding whether a “repeat” is in order. A bigger question which might come to mind is why does a person choose an anonymous “quickie” over getting to know someone first? Are they looking for validation, or avoiding fears of loneliness, commitment, or rejection? Are they wearing anonymity like armor? Such thoughts come to mind as Mark O’Halloran’s swift and engaging play “Conversations After Sex” unfolds, a collection of scenes in which the unnamed character of “She” (played by Kate Stanley Brennan) engages in post-coital dialogues with several different men she has met on-line, in bars or in passing (all portrayed by Fionn Ó Loingsigh). [more]

The Same

February 20, 2022

Lisa and The Other Lisa are the two characters in acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s haunting short play, "The Same." The conceit that The Other Lisa is Lisa 10 years ago is soon discerned. That’s achieved through Mr. Walsh’s alluring dialogue and stirring reveries which combine the poetic, the mundane and the cryptic. By the end of 47 entrancing minutes, one has experienced Lisa’s life in Ireland with its high points and disappointments. [more]

The Humours of Bandon

April 12, 2019

The blonde, animated and spunky Ms. McAuliffe portrays 16-year-old Dublin resident Annie who’s been dancing since childhood. Wearing tights, a T-shirt and a varsity jacket, McAuliffe’s delightful characterization is marked by wise girlishness. She alternates between playing Annie, her sturdy stage mother, friends, and a few incidental characters, all with detailed verve and a pleasing accent. Her writing is a concise breezy amalgam of factual details, well drawn figures, and momentum. [more]

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing

April 27, 2016

Ms. Duffin portrays the heroine as well as a multitude of characters using a strong Irish accent, expert physical transformations and her strong presence. Barefoot, wearing plaid lounge pants and a blue T-shirt Duffin holds forth on the black walled stage that has a few slits of lights and a floor strewn with earth. Though she is commanding, the nature of the material ultimately renders her performance and the overall experience of the play as wearying. [more]