Stephen Rea and Sean McGinley to Star in Ages of the Moon; Moria Buffini’s Gabriel Added to Atlantic Season

Stephen Rea and Sean McGinley will reprise their starring roles in the American premiere of The Abbey Theatre’s production of Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon, to be presented by the Atlantic Theatre Company at the the Linda Gross Theater, January 12-March 7, with an opening set for January 27.

In the play, Byron (McGinley) and Ames (Rea) are old friends re-united by mutual desperation. Over bourbon on ice, they sit, reflect, and bicker until fifty years of love, friendship, and rivalry are put to the test at the barrel of a gun.

Rea received an Oscar nomination for The Crying Game, a Tony nomination for Someone to Watch Over Me, and most recently appeared on stage in New York in Shepard’s Kicking a Dead Horse. McGinley was a member of the Druid Theatre Company from 1977-1989, with film credits including On a Clear Day, Braveheart, and Michael Collins.

In related news, the American premiere of Moira Buffini’s award-winning play Gabriel will conclude the Atlantic’s 2009-2010 main stage season. The work is set around a largely forgotten moment in British history — the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. A naked young man washes up on a Guernsey beach. He’s fluent in both German and English but has no recollection of who he is. The production will begin previews in April toward a May opening.

For more information, visit www.atlantictheater.org.