Theater News

A Red Orchid Theatre Opens Its Season With a US Premiere of Strandline

Abbie Spallen brings her Irish play to Chicago.

Irish playwright Abbie Spallen presents the U.S. premiere of her new play Strandline at Chicago's A Red Orchid Theatre.
Irish playwright Abbie Spallen presents the U.S. premiere of her new play Strandline at Chicago's A Red Orchid Theatre.

Chicago's A Red Orchid Theatre will open its 22nd season with the U.S. premiere of Strandline, written by Irish playwright Abbie Spallen and directed by J.R. Sullivan. Performances are scheduled to run from October 23-December 7, with an official October 27 opening.

Spallen, a Steward Parker Trust Award and Susan Smith Blackburn Prize recipient, sets the play in a small coastal village in Northern Ireland. Three local women reluctantly join Mairin, an outsider and an artist, in mourning the death of her husband, despite the fact that each has good reason not to be there. With mythical echoes, Strandline turns a sharp eye on small-town social and economic realities.

Strandline received its world premiere in 2009 with Fishamble in Dublin. The Chicago cast features A Red Orchid Ensemble members Dado, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and Natalie West, with Meg Warner and John Babbo.

For tickets and more information, click here.

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Strandline

Closed: December 7, 2014