Two Short Brian Friel Plays to Be Staged by Irish Rep in Two by Friel

Irish Repertory Theatre has announced its next production on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage: Two by Friel, a double bill of short plays by Brian Friel, Lovers: Winners (1967) and The Yalta Game (2001). Performances will begin on November 7 and run through December 23, with opening night set for November 12.

The two plays are described as follows: "Lovers: Winners follows Mag and Joe, two teenage lovers who meet at the top of a hill to study for their final examinations, make plans for their upcoming wedding, and prepare for the child they are expecting. Meanwhile, two narrators relate the darker events surrounding that day. In The Yalta Game, adapted from Anton Chekhov's short story 'The Lady With the Lapdog,' Dmitry and Anna fall in love while on vacation from their spouses. In their courting, Dmitry teaches Anna about the Yalta game — a game in which visitors invent stories about the people they see in the square. But is their love — is any love — real or imagined? Forever or ephemeral?"

Conor Bagley will direct a cast that includes Aoife Kelly, Phil Gillen (The Home Place), Jenny Leona (Pushkin), and Aidan Redmond (Woman and Scarecrow). The creative team will include Daniel Prosky (set design), China Lee (costume design), Michael O'Connor (lighting design), and Ryan Rumery (sound design).

Irish Rep has also announced a free one-night-only event on Monday, October 29: a conversation between journalist Dan Barry and acclaimed author Colum McCann about Barry's new book This Land: America, Lost and Found.