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Seanachaí Theatre Company announces its
2011-12 SEASON:
CLASSIC VOICES
The Revolutionaries
THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN
By Sean O'Casey
September 15th - October 23rd, 2011
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
By Eugene O'Neill
Starring Brad Armacost & Steve Pickering
March 15th - April 22nd, 2012
Seanachaí proudly announces the company’s second season at its permanent home, the 3rd Floor Theatre at the Irish American Heritage Center. Sean O’Casey’s political tragicomedy The Shadow of a Gunman unveils the season’s theme: Classic Voices - The Revolutionaries. In spring 2012, veteran Chicago actors Brad Armacost and Steve Pickering star as Phil Hogan and James Tyrone, in iconoclast Eugene O’Neill’s emotionally searing A Moon for the Misbegotten.
Long celebrated for producing contemporary Irish works, Seanachaí journeys back to explore these early 20th century revolutionary masters, the now classic voices of Irish/American theatre...
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SEAN O’CASEY (1880-1964), born to a poor Protestant family, embraced the Irish nationalist cause and became active in the labor movement and its paramilitary Irish Citizen Army. By 1915 he had turned from politics to writing realistic tragicomedies about Dublin slum dwellers in war and revolution, the first Irish writer of note to do so. The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, produced three of his earliest and best-known plays: The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924), and The Plough and the Stars (1926), of which the latter inspired Irish patriots to riot.
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During the 1910s, EUGENE O’NEILL (1888-1953) began a playwriting career that would revolutionize the American Theatre. In 1936, he became the first American playwright to win the Nobel Prize and went on to become a four-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. His most well-known works include Beyond The Horizon, Anna Christie, The Hairy Ape, Desire Under the Elms, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten, and A Touch of the Poet. Today, he is generally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists in the history of American Theatre.
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STEVE PICKERING reprises the role of James Tyrone in A Moon For the Misbegotten, having played Jamie Tyrone opposite Brian Dennehy in the Goodman production of Long Day’s Journey into Night, directed by Robert Falls. Steve also completed over 700 performances with Dennehy of Falls’ Tony Award-winning production of Death of a Salesman on Broadway, for the National Tour, the Showtime network, and in London’s West End.
Among his many credits are Kent in King Lear opposite Stacy Keach at the Goodman; the title role of Fatboy, directed by Guy van Swearingen for Red Orchid; and War with the Newts at the Next, directed by Jason Loewith.
Image: Steve Pickering as Kent in King Lear at the Goodman Theatre, directed by Robert Falls. Photo by Liz Lauren.
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BRAD ARMACOST, Phil Hogan in A Moon For the Misbegotten, has a long history with Irish theatre in Chicago. Last fall he played Jack in Seanachaí’s critically acclaimed, Jeff Recommended production of The Weir by Conor McPherson, directed by Matt Miller.
Brad received the Joseph Jefferson Award for his work in Brian Friel’s Faith Healer at the upstairs theatre at Steppenwolf, as well as appearing in the Steppenwolf productions of The Seafarer, Playboy of the Western World, and Maria Arndt. He appeared in O’Neill’s A Touch of a Poet with Brian Dennehy at the Goodman Theatre, as well as A Life at Northlight with John Mahoney.
Image: Brad Armacost as Jack in Seanachaí’s The Weir, directed by Matt Miller. Photo by Eileen Molony.
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SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
See Seanachaí's 2011-2012 season for only $45! Save over 20% on single ticket prices, and become a valued member of the Seanachaí family.
This year, Seanachaí is pleased to offer Dinner Theatre Night subscription packages for only $100 per person. These special subscription evenings (held September 22, 2011 and March 22, 2012) include dinner, wine, dessert, and a presentation by a Seanachaí member about that evening's performance, just down the hall from the theatre. For more information, call (773) 878-3727.
Simply download our Subscription form here,
and return it to us at 1530 S. State St. #801, Chicago, IL 60605.
OUR LOCATION
Join us in our permanent home at the Irish American Heritage Center (IAHC), located at 4626 N Knox Ave, Chicago, IL 60630. The IAHC is wheelchair accessible and there is a free parking lot on the building's grounds.
Dedicated to fostering Irish heritage, culture and traditions, the IAHC houses a theatre, an authentic Irish pub, library, museum, and much more. Seanachaí's entire season will be performed at the IAHC, where we are now the resident professional theatre company.
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