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[Upcoming Production: Around the World in 80's Days]
By Richard F. Stockton
Additional Material And Original Concept By Richard T. Herd
Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly
Previews Begin: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Official Opening: Thursday, May 22, 2008
"THE ARTFUL DIRECTION PUTS THE
TALENTED CAST TO EXCELLENT USE"
-- AP
" THE QUALITY OF THE ACTING IS TOP-DRAWER ACROSS THE BOARD"
-- W Wolf
"The vivid staging and acting makes Casement's journey to the gallows exciting and disturbingly suspenseful. A triumph of stagecraft"
--Curtain Up
The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd St.) continues its 20th season with the New York Premiere of PRISONER OF THE CROWN, previews begin Wednesday, May 14, 2008. The production will open on Thursday, May 22, 2008. Ciarán O’Reilly directs.
PRISONER OF THE CROWN, a broad and bitter indictment of judicial abuse, is the riveting story of the trial of Sir Roger Casement, an Irish patriot and one of the world's great humanitarians. A few short years after being knighted, Casement was sentenced to be hanged for treason in what was called, "The Trial of the Century." The sensational trial was tainted by the presence of the "Black Diaries," --an alleged explicit account of Casement's promiscuous homosexual lifestyle. Were the diaries real? Or, were they, as many believed, forged by the crown forces determined that he pay the ultimate price for his role in the Easter, 1916 uprising? The play, set in the jury room of the Old Bailey and in the minds of the jury, features 49 characters and paints a captivating picture of heroism, passion, and manipulative deception.
Roger Casement was born in Kingstown, now Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, in 1864. In the 1890s Casement joined the British consular service, and in 1903 gained an international reputation for his humanitarian efforts in the Congo and later in Peru where he exposed atrocities to which natives were subjected by agents of rubber companies using forced labor. His reports created an international sensation for which resulted in his knighthood. He was one of the world’s first great humanitarians in the modern sense. He retired from the consular service in 1912 and was hanged for high treason August 3, 1916.
Richard F. Stockton: Playwriting credits include: Eight full-length plays including PRISONER OF THE CROWN, co-produced by Alfred Drake and The Abbey (the first world premiere by an American author at Ireland’s National Theatre); productions off-Broadway and at prominent regional theatres (Milwaukee Repertory Company, Virginia Museum Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse); ten short plays produced from Greenwich Village to Tokyo, including books for three musicals toured nationally by Fran & Barry Weissler; he completed seven screenplays, one of which, DAMAGE CONTROL, was optioned recently thanks to his film agent Oliver Mahrdt at the Hanns Wolters Agency; numerous television dramas for The U.S. Steel Hour, The Great Adventure and CBC (starring Anne Baxter, Jack Klugman, Jeanne Crain, James Whitmore, et al.). A dozen TV and radio plays produced internationally (BBC, CBC, New Zealand).
Richard T. Herd is well known to television viewers as Mr. Wilhelm, George’s boss on "Seinfeld" for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award. Films include: "The China Syndrome," "All the President’s Men," and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Theatrical credits include the New York productions of Electra, Harlequinade, 20 Poems…e.e. cummings, and The Coach With The Six Insides which he co-produced and which earned Vernon Rice an Obie Award. In Los Angeles: My Last Confession and Death of a SalesmaN, winning a Drama Logue Award for both performances. His one man show, Cecil B. De Mille Presents, premiered in Denver. Richard is the recipient of The Wilkins Award for poetry from the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference.
Ciarán O'Reilly (Director) most recently directed SIVE, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, THE HAIRY APE, (Drama Desk Nom) THE FIELD, PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME! (Drama Desk Nom.) and The Irish Rep original THE BELLS OF CHRISTMAS. He has also directed THE NIGHTINGALE AND NOT THE LARK and THE INVISIBLE MAN by Jennifer Johnston. He was recently seen in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of TOUCH OF A POET with Gabriel Byrne. Previous to that, he appeared at The Westport Country Playhouse in SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME by Frank McGuiness. He has appeared at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and made his Broadway debut in THE CORN IS GREEN. His many Off-Broadway roles include: two productions of THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN; Brendan Behan's THE HOSTAGE; Hugh Leonard's DA, SUMMER, and THE AU PAIR MAN; Brian Friel's PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME!; J. M. Synge's THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD; Harold Prince's GRANDCHILD OF KINGS; Geraldine Aron's SAME OLD MOON; Tom Murphy's A WHISTLE IN THE DARK; Dion Boucicault's THE SHAUGHRAUN; John Murphy's THE COUNTRY BOY; and Frank McCourt's THE IRISH . . . AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY. He appeared in "The Devil's Own" (starring Harrison Ford), "Law & Order" (NBC), "The Irish . . . and How They Got That Way" (public television), and "Third Watch" (NBC). With Charlotte Moore, he founded The Irish Rep and has appeared in many of their productions and produced all of them. He has thrice been honored by Irish America Magazine with the Irish America Top 100 Irish Award.
The cast features Peter Cormican, Patrick Fitzgerald, Philip Goodwin, Emma O’Donnell, Tim Ruddy, Ian Stuart, John Vennema, and John Windsor-Cunningham.
Set Design by Charlie Corcoran, Costume Design by David Toser, Lighting Design by Brian Nason, Sound Design by Zachary Williamson, and Wig and Hair Design by Robert-Charles Vallance, Fight Director is Rick Sordelet. The Production Stage Manger is Elis Arroyo. Stage Manager is Leslie Grisdale. Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director, Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing Director, Patrick A. Kelsey, Managing Director.
Performances of PRISONER OF THE CROWN are Wednesday - Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees are Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are $60 and $55 and can be purchased by calling The Irish Repertory Theatre Box Office at (212) 727-2737. (For group sales of 20 or more contact Jen Nelson at (212) 255-0270 x22.) For more information, call (212) 727-2737 or visit www.irishrep.org.
* The production runs until July 6, 2008
by Mark Brown
July 11 – Sept. 7, 2008
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