Address:
300 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 718/403-0939
Website: www.1stIrish.org
Description: “A Night with George,” the Aisling Award-winning comedy from West Belfast, opens the fourth annual 1st Irish Festival on Monday September 5 at 8pm at the Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street. Directed by Tony Devlin, this dark-horse hit from Brassneck Theatre Co. stars Donna O’Connor in a story about a working-class Belfast woman’s improbable connection with George Clooney. The U.S. premiere of “A Night with George” opens on Thursday September 8 at 8pm and will have played 21 performances when it ends its run on Sunday October 2 at 3pm.
“A Night with George,” tells what is purported to be the true story of O’Connor’s night on the town with George Clooney. Paralleling her unlikely success with Hollywood megastars, O’Connor’s hilarious dark comedy, which she co-wrote with Brenda Murphy, became an overnight sensation at the Belfast Festival before completely selling out The Grand Opera House and The Waterfront Hall in 2010. It went on to win the 2010 Aisling Award for outstanding achievement in the arts, and O’Connor was nominated for the Belfast Telegraph’s Woman of the Year. It has since toured across Ireland (north and south), turning O’Connor, who makes her professional stage debut with this production, into something of a Cinderella story herself. The Irish News said the show is “full of one-liners Groucho Marx would be proud of,” adding it, “received a reception the Royal Shakespeare Co. would die for.” Brassneck Theatre Co.’s “A Night with George” – a tale told with the blackest Belfast humor -- is a theatre feature of Imagine Ireland, the yearlong, multi-city festival of Irish arts sponsored by Culture Ireland. 1st Irish, the first and only festival in the world dedicated to Irish playwrights, is organized by Origin Theatre Company. 1st Irish 2011 runs from September 5 through October 3. For festival information and to learn how audience members pick the Audience Choice Award for Best Play, visit www.1stIrish.org
