The Abbey Theatre Presents The Plough and the Stars

October 14, 2016                                                                                                             Manny Igrejas, 973-744-3956

For Tickets & Information: 973-655-5112                                                                 peakmedia@mail.montclair.edu

Abbey Theatre’s The Plough and the Stars,

Sean O’Casey’s Masterpiece About Ireland’s 1916 Easter Uprising

Makes Its NY/NJ Debut at Peak Performances October 20^th through October 23^rd

This Acclaimed Production Is Directed by Sean Holmes

“Th’ time is rotten ripe for revolution.” Set amidst the tumult of the Ireland’s 1916 Easter rising, Sean O’Casey’s searing The Plough and The Stars” is the story of ordinary lives ripped apart by idealism and revolution. The play opens with the domestic hum of a Dublin tenement and its residents just before the uprising’s violence sweeps through the streets and dramatically impacts their lives. Once the smoke has cleared, what kind of Ireland awaits them? The Plough and the Stars was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in 1926 and caused riots by Nationalists who thought it defamed the patriots.  Now considered a masterpiece, it has become essential in our understanding of the forces that rocked Ireland in 1916, one hundred years ago

and included members of The Abbey Theatre. The Plough and the Stars is the third play in O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy which began with Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock.

Sean Holmes won the Olivier Award for Sarah Kane’s Blasted and brings a new perspective to Sean O’Casey’s timeless and absorbing play. “An appropriately irreverent handling of a legendarily irreverent script. This vigorous performance…convincingly reinforces the mettle of O’Casey’s great play.” Washington Post.

The cast for this production includes: Ian Lloyd Anderson. Kate Stanley Brennan, Tony Clay, Lloyd Cooney,

David Ganly, Rachel Gleeson, James Hayes, Liam Heslin, Ger Kelly, Janet Moran, Ciaran O’Brien, Nima Talghani,

Eileen Walsh and Nyree Yergainharsian. Set design is by Jon Bauser; Costumes are by Catherine Fay; Lighting is by Paul Keogan and Music and Sound Design are by Philip Stewart.

Founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904 as the voice of an emerging nation, the Abbey proudly remains Ireland’s national theater and the birthplace of great plays that have achieved worldwide recognition as classics, among them The Playboy of the Western World, Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy, Brian Friel’s Faith Healer and Dancing at Lughnasa, among many others   The Abbey Theatre’s acclaimed production of Quietly is currently on view at The Irish Repertory Theater and has extended its run. These productions come at the end

Fiach Mac Conghail’s successful 12 years as The Abbey’s Artistic Director in which he found even more new ears for the glorious music of Irish plays.

Honored with a Citation for Excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Peak Performances continues to honor its audience by presenting daring, world class entertainment at an affordable (and astonishing) $20 ticket.

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The Plough and the Stars, The Abbey Theatre, Directed by Sean Holmes

Performances: Thursday, October 20^th at 7:30 pm, Friday, October 21^st at 7:30 pm,

Saturday, October 22^nd at 8pm and Sunday, October 23^rd at 3pm. 

Running time: 2 hours and 32 minutes,  2 intermissions. Admission: $20 for all performances.

WHERE TO GO

The Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University is located at 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07043. Tickets for the 2016-17 season go on sale July 5. All tickets are $20 and are available at the box office, www.peakperfs.org or by calling 973 655 5112.

FUNDERS

Programs in this season are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Dept. of State, a Partner Agency of The National Endowment for the Arts and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.