Frank McCourt, Brian F. O’Byrne, Marian Seldes, and More to Participate in Irish Rep’s The Yeats Project

The Irish Repertory Theatre will present The Yeats Project, comprised of all 26 plays written by William Butler Yeats, performed in repertory, beginning April 8, with an opening set for April 15.

Eight of the plays will receive fully mounted productions on the Mainstage of the Theatre, to be directed by Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly. Cycle A will include The Countess Cathleen, The Cat And The Moon, and On Baile’s Strand. Cycle B will feature The Land of Heart’s Desire, The Pot of Broth, Purgatory, A Full Moon In March, and Cathleen Ni Houlihan. The cast will include Kevin Collins, Peter Cormican, Terry Donnelly, Patrick Fitzgerald, Sean Gormley, Amanda Quaid, Amanda Sprecher, Justin Stoney, Fiana Toibin, and William J. Ward. The creative team will include Charlie Corcoran (set), David Toser (costumes), Brian Nason (lighting), Zachary Williamson (sound), Bill Whelan (original music), and Barry McNabb (choreography).

The remaining 18 plays will receive concert readings in the downstairs Studio Theatre, to be directed by George C. Heslin. These works will include At the Hawk’s Well, Calvary, Deirdre, The Hour Glass, The King’s Threshold, Oedipus Rex, The Resurrection, The Shadowy Waters, The Words upon the Window Pane, The Green Helmet, The Only Jealousy of Emer, The Unicorn from the Stars, The Player Queen, The Dreaming of the Bones, Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus, The King of the Great Clock Tower, The Herne’s Egg, and The Death of Cuchulain.

Marian Seldes, Brian F. O’Byrne, John McMartin, and David Staller will host an open microphone night where the general public are invited to take the stage and perform a favorite Yeats poem. Other scheduled events will include five special poetry evenings featuring distinguished guests, a Dance Recital from Darrah Carr Dance, a movie screening of Words Upon the Window Pane, and a literary evening featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, Colm McCann, and special musical guests.

There will also be a reading of Sailing to Byzantium by Sandra Deer, an original play featuring the characters of Yeats, Ezra Pound, and their various lovers including Maud Gonne and Olivia Shakespear, as well as associated events being presented by Glucksman Ireland House and The American Irish Historical Society.

For more information, visit www.irishrep.org.