Solas Nua, the only non-profit organisation in the United States dedicated exclusively to contemporary Irish arts, is proud to present the Fishamble Play Reading Series, a collection of 11 of the best plays from Fishamble.
The plays were chosen by Fishamble Artistic Director, Jim Culleton, and are produced by Solas Nua. Jim Culleton opened the play reading series on September 21st, introducing the plays he selected for the year and participating in a post-show discussion after the first reading.

Full Reading Schedule:

– Monday, September 21st 7pm: The Ash Fire by Gavin Kostick. Directed by Jason McCool, with Special Guest Fishamble Artistic Director Jim Culleton
– Monday, October 19th 7pm: Red Roses And Petrol by Joseph O’Connor. Directed by Kathleen Akerley
– Monday, November 16 7pm: From Both Hips by Mark O’Rowe. Directed by Wayne Jordan
– Monday, December 21st 7pm: The Nun’s Wood by Pat Kinevane. Directed by Julia Harman Cain
– Monday, January 18th 7pm: The Buddhist of Castleknock by Jim O’Hanlon. Directed by Bill Largess
– Monday, February 15th 7pm: A Shorts Series by Stella Feehily, Maeve Binchy, Roisin Ingle, Tara Dairman, Simon O’Gorman, Belinda McKeon, John Cronin & Michael Collins.
– Monday, March 15th 7pm: Monged by Gary Duggan. Directed by Rex Daugherty
– Monday, April 19th 7pm: Noah and the Tower Flower by Sean McLoughlin. Directed by Linda Murray
– Monday, May 17th 7pm: The Pride of Parnell Street by Sebastian Barry. Directed by Des Kennedy
– Monday, June 21st 7pm: Rank by Robert Massey. Directed by Colin Hovde
– Monday, July 19th 7pm: Strandline by Abbie Spallen. Directed by Dan Brick

Where:

Flashpoint Mead Theatre Lab, 916 G Street NW, Washington DC 20001  / Metro Center or Gallery Place/Chinatown

When:

September 2009 – July 2010: The 3rd Monday of every month at 7pm. Doors open at 6.30pm.

Tickets are free at the door.

About Solas Nua:

Solas Nua is the only non-profit organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to contemporary Irish arts. Solas Nua produces the Capital Irish Film Festival, a critically acclaimed theatre season, Irish Book Day, the DC Irish Writers Festival, visual arts exhibitions, pod-casts, hosts numerous Irish artists each year, runs a free monthly play reading series and film screening series, a book club and dozens of special events annually. Founded in 2005 by Dublin native Linda Murray (Artistic Director) and DC native Dan Brick (Producing Director), Solas Nua is a resident organization at Flashpoint.

Solas Nua presents more new Irish work than any organization in America. By partnering with companies in Ireland, Solas Nua has the relationships that bring you the best new talent in the country. In addition, their commitment to a significant component of free programming in each season ensures accessibility for everyone.

For further information or media queries, contact Dan Brick on+1 202 315 1317 or email dan@solasnua.org

See Solas Nua’s press release and website.

by Sean McLoughlin

Read more

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Fishamble New Writing Award

as part of the ABSOLUT Dublin Fringe Festival

Read more

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The New Play Clinic: Pilot Scheme

Fishamble launches a new dramaturgical development initiative

Read more

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Show In A Bag:

a collaboration with Dublin Fringe Festival and Irish Theatre Institute

Read more

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Playwriting Courses 2010: Now Enrolling!

Dates confirmed for Autumn / Winter 2010 courses

Read More…

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Turning Point

a collaboration with
Arts and Disability Ireland

International VSA Festival
Washington DC
6th June

Read more

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Abbie Spallen Interview on BBC Arts Extra

Click here to listen

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Fishamble Play Readings by Solas Nua

Flashpoint Mead Theatre Lab,
916 G Street NW, Washington DC

Read more…

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Follow Fishamble

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Contact Fishamble

by Abbie Spallen

If you push too far, secrets will out.

World Premiere of

Strandline

Project Arts Centre
17th November – 5th December

Booking: 01 881 9613 or www.projectartscentre.ie
Tickets: €22 / €18 (concession, previews, matinees)

Group discounts available in advance only. Contact melanie@projectartscentre.ie (Mon-Fri during office hours) or call 01 8819613

Previews: 17th & 18th November
Matinees: 3pm, 28th November & 5th December

Directed by Jim Culleton
Cast: Fiona Bell, Cathy Belton, Samantha Heaney, Conor MacNeill & Eleanor Methven

Designed by Sabine Dargent
Lighting Design by Paul Keogan
Sound Design by Denis Clohessy
Costume Design by Leonore McDonagh

About Strandline:

Following the recent death of her husband, Máirín, an artist and an outsider living in a small coastal village in Northern Ireland, gathers three local women to her house. Each of the women has a reason for being there and a bloody good reason not to be there.

These women have secrets. This community has secrets. And, as the evening passes, Máirín learns more than she bargained for about the man she had loved.

This richly comic, searing drama by Abbie Spallen, one of Ireland’s most exciting playwrights and recent winner of the Steward Parker Trust Award, stars Fiona Bell, Cathy Belton, Samantha Heaney, Conor MacNeill and Eleanor Methven.

Read the Irish Times Review

Written and performed by Pat Kinevane
Directed by Jim Culleton
Produced by Orla Flanagan

2010 Tour Dates:

25th August, 9.00pm:

Club Cleire, Cape Clear

26th August, 9.00pm:

Community Hall Kilcrohane

27th August:

Community Hall, Sherkin Island

28th August, 8.00pm:

The Lecture Hall, Hosted by the Bere Island Troupe, Bere Island

29th August,  8.30pm:

Community Hall, Ballydehob.

11th September:

Pillar Room, Mater Hospital, as part of the Phibsboro Arts Festival

Forgotten on Tour:

Fishamble: The New Play Company is currently programming Forgotten tour dates for spring 2010. If you are a presenter and would like more information on bringing Forgotten to your venue, click here.

Description:

Forgotten is a solo piece of theatre which reveals the interconnecting stories of four elderly people, living in retirement homes and care facilities around Ireland, who range in age from 80 to 100 years old. 1943 was a curious year for this quartet – their lives have never been the same since…

At times, challengingly dark and, at other times, startlingly hilarious, Forgotten is presented in a fusion of European and Japanese Kabuki theatrical styles.

Pat Kinevane’s previous plays for Fishamble include The Nun’s Wood and The Plains of Enna. He has worked as an actor in theatre, film, radio and television for the past seventeen years. Credits include Black Day at Blackrock, A Mother’s Love’s A Blessing, King Arthur, Ballykissangel, I Keano and The Late Late Show Murder Mystery.

Press Quotes:

‘***** Kinevane is a powerful force… this is an unequivocally beautiful piece’ The Scotsman

‘a piece of theatre not easily forgotten…a performance of rare authority and completeness‘ The Sunday Tribune

‘astonishingly realised…a consummate act of storytelling…a striking accomplishment; captivating, moving, and -yes- even unforgettable.’ The Irish Times

Fishamble is pleased to report that Little Gem, the play by 2008 Fishamble New Writing Award winner, Elaine Murphy, will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August before touring in Ireland.

The Gúna Nua/Civic Theatre multi-award winning 2008 production of Little Gem by Elaine Murphy previews at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh on the 6th August and plays until the 30th of August.

Tickets for Little Gem are available by clicking here.

Little Gem in Edinburgh is supported by Culture Ireland, promoting the best of Ireland’s arts and culture internationally.

After Edinburgh:

3rd – 12th September: The Civic Theatre, Tallaght

20th January – 27th February 2010: The Peacock Theatre, Dublin

Visit Gúna Nua for more information on this production.

Directed by Jim Culleton
Produced by Orla Flanagan

Cast: Mary Murray and Aidan Kelly

Click here for biographies.

Latest News:

The Pride of Parnell Street is the WINNER of two Tina Santi Flaherty 1st Irish Theatre Awards for BEST ACTRESS (Mary Murray) and BEST PRODUCTION.

Congratulations to Aidan Kelly, Sabine Dargent and Jim Culleton who received nominations for BEST ACTOR, BEST DESIGN and BEST DIRECTOR respectively, and to all involved in bringing The Pride of Parnell Street to the 1st Irish 2009 Festival in New York.

59E59 Theaters, New York:

1st September – 4th October (no performances on Mondays)

As part of the 1st Irish 2009 Festival

Times: Tue 7:15pm, Wed-Fri 8:15pm, Sat 2:15pm & 8:15pm, Sun 3:15pm & 7:15pm

Booking: 001 212 753-5959

Tickets: $35

www.59E59.org     www.1stIrish.org

Description:

The Pride of Parnell Street is a moving account of a marriage and a time that have both past. Through interconnecting monologues an estranged couple, Janet and Joe, chart the intimacies of their love and the rupturing of their relationship, as well as their enduring love affair with Dublin city itself.

In this world premiere production, Sebastian Barry’s new play explores, with vivid tenderness, the devastating effects of public and private acts of violence. This is an intimate, heroic tale of ordinary and extraordinary life on the streets of Dublin.

Sebastian Barry is a major, internationally-renowned playwright and novelist. His plays include The Steward of Christendom, Our Lady of Sligo, Prayers of Sherkin and Hinterland. His awards include the BBC/Stewart Parker Trust Award, the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, the Ireland/America Literary Prize, the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play, the Writers’ Guild Award, the Lloyds Private Banking Playwright of the Year Award and the Peggy Ramsay Play Award, as well as nominations for the Olivier Award and Man Booker Prize.

For the full tour history and premiere information on The Pride of Parnell Street, click here.

New York Press Quotes:

‘lovingly acted… written in the artful style you have come to associate with Mr. Barry, in which rambling, vernacular talk assumes the music and patterns of poetry. And as directed by Jim Culleton, Ms. Murray and Mr. Kelly share a gift for sensually summoning the fractured present of people for whom the past seems far more vivid than anything since. Both, in other words, are a pleasure to watch and listen to. Mr. Culleton always keeps them onstage at the same time, so you’re aware of the omnipresence of each in the other’s life. Sabine Dargent’s subtly divided set and Mark Galione’s lighting suggest a couple eternally connected and divided, like lovers in a ghost story.’ - Ben Brantley, New York Times

‘the performances in this Fishamble Theatre Company production, imported from Dublin as part of the 59E59 Theaters’ 1st Irish festival, couldn’t be better.’ –  New York Post

‘powerful central performances’  - Theatremania

‘a breathtakingly effective memory play… Kelly and Murray are consummate performers… Jim Culleton directs Barry’s words with a subtlety and rhythm that are beautifully balanced… “The Pride of Parnell Street” is the first New York production from the Ireland-based Fishamble: The New Play Company, and also one of the first entries in the 1st IRISH theater festival that runs through October. If this gem is any prediction of signs to come, locals will have a tremendous opportunity to experience first-rate Irish theater. “The Pride of Parnell Street” is quite simply brilliant… Joe and Janet will stay with you beyond the final blackout.’  - The Leader, New York

‘Under the secure direction of Jim Culleton, the talented Kelly and Murray turn this language into authentic arias. Kelly, in the more difficult role, is still the real thing, while Murray as the woebegone wife is able to suffuse Janet with a genuine charm.’ – Backstage

‘Under the secure direction of Jim Culleton, the talented Kelly and Murray turn this language into authentic arias. Kelly, in the more difficult role, is still the real thing, while Murray as the woebegone wife is able to suffuse Janet with a genuine charm…This is a feat that shows strikingly what can be done when a writer, director and actors combine their enormous talent and overcome impossible odds in a real triumph.’  - Curtain Up

‘one of the most honest, subtle, and intricate explorations of “the relationship” seen on stage in recent memory.’ – NYTheater.com

Irish Press Quotes:

‘The play is quiveringly beautiful… quite simply magnificent’ – Sunday Independent

‘Barry’s excellent script is laced with lucid humour… so powerfully delivered that it will hardly leave a dry eye in the house… affecting, moving and unmissable theatre… highly recommended.’ - RTE.ie

‘Directed and performed with deft beauty… Jim Culleton’s touch throughout is sure…  a masterpiece of restraint and controlled emotion’  - The Sunday Tribune

‘Absolutely fantastic… the writing is absolutely beautiful… an amazing piece of theatre’ – The View – RTE TV

‘Fishamble’s production quite stunningly realises its potential… an utterly absorbing evening’ – The Sunday Business Post.

Irish Council for Bioethics Playwriting Competition

Jim Culleton, Siobhan O’Sullivan, Paul Meade and Gavin Kostick

Fishamble: The New Play Company is delighted to announce that the Jim McNaughton / TileStyle Bursary for Commissioned Artists 2009 was presented to Paul Meade commissioned by the Irish Council for Bio-Ethics.

The National Bio-Ethics Playwriting Competition was developed by The Irish Council for Bio-Ethics in partnership withFishamble: The New Play Company in order to establish a new link between science and the arts. The competition allowed for the exploration of challenging philosophical and medical themes in a theatrical form. It received over 120 entries which were submitted by amateur and established writers from as far afield as China and Brazil.

In January 2009, a first reading of Begotten Not Made by Paul Meade and directed by Jim Culleton was held at Farmleigh in Phoenix Park, Dublin, for an audience from the spheres of science, philosophy, the arts and legal professions. Further readings of the play were given for the Bar Council of Dublin and for TDs at Leinster House, and it is hoped to develop the play into a full production.

The play consists of three interwoven stories. The first, relates to a successful couple who are struggling to conceive a child through IVF; the second is the story of a married couple who are travelling to Switzerland for an assisted suicide; the third strand tells the story of a brother and sister, one of whom was born as a ‘saviour-sibling’ for the other, for the use of stem-cells.

The cast for readings of Begotten Not Made have included: Karen Ardiff, Barry Barnes, Cathy Belton, Anthony Brophy, Fiona Condon, Conor Delaney, Ruth Hegarty, Darragh Kelly, Janet Moran and Arthur Riordan.

For further details about the Irish Council of Bioethics please see www.bioethics.ie

‘’Has no one a skitter o’ dignity left?’

Writer: Pat Kinevane
Director: Jim Culleton

Cast: Pat Kinevane

Production: Produced by Marketa Puzman and Orla Flanagan
First performed as part of the Bealtaine Festival in May 2006.

Awards:

Nominated for Special Judges’ Award, The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2007

Upcoming 2010 Tour Dates:

21st May, 8pm - George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow
Tickets: €20 / €18 (concession)
Booking: 059 9172400 / www.gbshawtheatre.ie

8pm, 27th-29th May –Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork
Post-show discussion on Thursday 27th May
Tickets: €25 / €20 (concession) / €15 (opening) / €7 (students, Thursday only)
Booking: 021 450 1673 (Telephone and internet bookings are subject to a handling charge)

Tour History:

This boutique performance by the award-winning Fishamble: The New Play Company has been a major hit on tour in Ireland and internationally, with more than 85 performances since it was first presented as part of Bealtaine Festival in 2006. Forgotten has been performed in 7 countries around the world and 15 counties in Ireland.  For a full list of venues where Forgotten has been performed, click here.

Description:

Forgotten is a solo piece of theatre which reveals the interconnecting stories of four elderly people, living in retirement homes and care facilities around Ireland, who range in age from 80 to 100 years old. 1943 was a curious year for this quartet – their lives have never been the same since…

It is, at times, challengingly dark and, at other times, startlingly hilarious. Forgotten is presented in a fusion of European and Japanese Kabuki theatrical styles.

Pat Kinevane’s previous plays for Fishamble include The Nun’s Wood and The Plains of Enna. He has worked as an actor in theatre, film, radio and television for the past seventeen years. Credits include Black Day at Blackrock, A Mother’s Love’s A Blessing, King Arthur, Ballykissangel, I Keano and The Late Late Show Murder Mystery.

Press Quotes:

‘***** Kinevane is a powerful force… this is an unequivocally beautiful piece’ The Scotsman

‘a piece of theatre not easily forgotten…a performance of rare authority and completeness’ The Sunday Tribune

‘astonishingly realised…a consummate act of storytelling…a striking accomplishment; captivating, moving, and -yes- even unforgettable.’ The Irish Times

‘an indelible solo performance…one of the most unexpectedly witty and dramatically rewarding works of the theater you are likely to attend this year…the sorrows of ageing and the mystery of the heart are movingly captured by this slow and deliberate performance style, kicking the play into an unlikely artistic high gear.’ Irish Voice (New York)

“Never underestimate the substance, the complexity, of a long life. ‘Forgotten,’ Pat Kinevane’s one-man show at the Irish Arts Center, gracefully illustrates that point with mimickry, invention and formidable stamina. Well paced and poignant. Mr. Kinevane artfully conveys the secrets, the hidden past, of the aged, and the dignity often behind their quaint, seemingly innocuous bearing.” The New York Times

“… the monologues are beautifully written and vivid, what makes this show uniquely memorable is Kinevane’s raw, over-the-top, compassionate performance…” The New Yorker

by Joseph O’Connor

A Fishamble: The New Play Company co-production with Temple Bar Cultural Trust, as part of the 2009 Dublin Handel Festival

Directed by Jim Culleton

Cast includes Aaron Monaghan & Caitríona Ní Mhurchú with Alan Stanford as ‘Handel’
Costume Design by Leonore McDonagh
Produced by Orla Flanagan

Handel’s Crossing, to be staged on the Jeanie Johnston ship for a limited run, is a theatrical re-imagining of George Frideric Handel’s arrival to Dublin in 1742 for the world premiere of Messiah. Meet the great composer and his servants on board, as they await with bated breath the first performance on Fishamble Street of this now revered masterpiece.

Boarding at the Liffey River Cruises dock at Bachelor’s Walk, audiences will be ferried down the river, to the Jeanie Johnston ship at Custom House Quay marina for the live performance on the ship.

‘a comic commemoration of Handel’s landmark composition, fittingly performed in its stage incarnation on the historic Jeanie Johnston ship.’
Sara Keating, The Irish Times Critics Choice of 2009

4.30pm, 6pm sharp
Thursday 16th – Sunday 19th April
Meeting point: Liffey River Cruises dock at Bachelor’s Walk

Tickets: €15, concession rate €10
Duration of cruise and performance – approximately 1 hour

In association with RTÉ lyric fm