Guest Host Joseph Gallivan (of Art Focus) features the US premiere of HURL as the season opener of Corrib Theatre, a company focusing on plays of the Irish experience founded by artistic director Gemma Whelan. Actor Clara Liis Hillier and Heath Hyun Houghton talk about their characters in this play by Charlie O'Neill about the ancient Irish sport of hurling from diverse characters from around the world.
Corrib Theatre presents U.S. Premiere
HURL
By Charlie O’Neill
A Story of Coming Together to Thwart
Historical, Societal, Personal Obstacles
Directed by Tracy Cameron Francis
Runs through October 28, 2018
Thursdays-Saturdays @ 7:30pm; Sundays @ 2pm
All shows at: New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St., Portland
RUNTIME: Approximately 90 minutes
TICKETS: $25 regular price; $20 student/group
Accepts discounts for Work for Art and Chinook Book, and participates in Arts for All
Brown Paper Tickets: 800-838-3006
More info at: https://corribhurl.brownpapertickets.com
About the play: Tradition, desire, and bodies collide when an Irish team made up of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers—originally from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cuba, Bosnia, Vietnam, Argentina, and inner-city Dublin—is formed and compete in the very traditional and ancient Irish sport of hurling. Led by an alcoholic priest and a washed-up trainer, the team battles discrimination and bureaucratic barriers to make its way to the All-Ireland finals. With humor, wit, and energy, Hurl explores what it means to be Irish in the 21st Century.
CAST: Clara Liis Hillier (Lofty, Ensemble), Cynthia Shur Petts (Rusty, Ensemble), Falynn Burton (Fatmata, Ensemble), James Dixon (Musa, Ensemble), Kenneth Dembo (Ensemble), Alec Lugo (Ensemble), Heath Hun Houghton (Ensemble), Wynee Hu (Ensemble)
CREATIVE TEAM: Yasmin Ruvalcaba (Assistant Director), Amy Katrina Bryan (Stage Manager/Production Manager), Kyra Sanford (Set Design), Summer Olsson (Costume Design), Sarah Hughey# (Light Design), Cameron McFee (Sound Design), Kathy Heininge (Dramaturg), Lilo Alfaro (Asst. Stage Manager)
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Charlie O’Neill hails from a traveling fairground family. He has been involved in theatre in Ireland for decades as a writer, actor, producer, and set designer. He has written several plays, including Rosie and Starwars (Stewart Parker Playwrights Award), Hupnouse and Hurl for Barabbas (Galway Arts Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival), The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre for the Rialto Youth Project, and Dodgems, a physical theatre/dance piece which was a co-production between CoisCeim and Dublin Theatre Festival. He also wrote Night of the Dark Angel for a large-scale Halloween outdoor night spectacle, which was produced with a local community in inner city Dublin, in partnership with Macnas from Galway. Charlie is the agency creative director and co-owner of Persuasion Republic, where he devises and writes advocacy and fundraising campaigns for many of Ireland’s major charities, NGOs, community development organizations, and cultural bodies. He has also written and contributed to publications on community regeneration, and children and creativity.
ABOUT CORRIB THEATRE
Corrib Theatre engages, inspires, entertains, and challenges audiences with theatrical productions filtered through the Irish experience, and with a focus on contemporary and lesser-known voices; we foster a diverse theatre community in our artists and patrons, and celebrate the essential power of the theatre to illuminate our common humanity.
- KBOO