An Irish Play |
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| By Dan O'Brien | ||
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| Featuring | ||
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Rick Lattimer |
Michael Starzynski Robert Humphrey |
Brooke Goergon |
| Directed by Matthew LaChiusa | ||
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An Irish Play is presented through Dramatic Publishing. All Rights Reserved The use of video to record this production is strictly prohibited. Please refrain from taking pictures during the production as it is distracting to both patrons and actors. If you wish to take photographs please let the stage or house manager know and an opportunity can be arranged after the production TRIGGER ALERTS: This play contains language about suicide; scenes of violence; alcoholism; herbal-based cigarette smoking on set; graphic language |
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The Ensemble
Production Team
Dan O'Brien
Matthew LaChiusa
Stefanie Warnick
Ann Perno
Monica Morrisey
Catherine Burkhart
Biographical Note
Brian Boru was born in 941 A.D. in Thomond near present-day Limerick. After the murder of his brother, Brian became king of Thomond in 976 and embarked on a campaign of intimidation, eventually "uniting" Ireland under his solitary rule. In 1002 he crowned himself high king of Ireland, instructing his scribes to sign his name "Brian Imperatoris Scotirum" (Brian, Emperor of the Irish). The remaining years of his life were dedicated to fighting the Danes of Limerick and the Norse of Dublin.
On Good Friday in 1014, at the age of seventy-three, while his armies were engaged with the Norse outside of Dublin at the battle of Clontarf (a battle they eventually won), Brian was murdered in his tent by a Norse assassin known as Brodar the Black Dane, a Viking reportedly skilled in black magic. After Brian's death, Ireland once more fell into widespread political disorganization and clan warfare, leaving itself open to future colonization.
Brian Boru remains to this day a quasi-mythical figure, his story taught to children as both a Celtic hero and Christian martyr.
Directors Notes
When presenting a stage adaptation of Liam O'Flaherty's "The Informer", a colleague joked about the irony of an Italian-American guy writing about Irish culture and an African-American who wrote about an old Polish lady for another ART/WNY production. I laughed at the irony as well, but also defended the right of any playwright to write about whatever story they wanted to. Prompting several questions including if the subject of material, characters, or historical stories are exclusive to a base, then in order to write about specific troupes, you need to be part of that base. If yes, then writing characters is based on association and not imagination? Does this lead to limitations on our imagination to write on the only things we know? And who we are?
Kinda defeats the purpose of creating art. Or theater for that matter.
So in selecting works for the 2025-26 season, I had this in the back of my mind. I set out to try and find a play that spoke about this point/counterpoint of discussion. Couldn't find anything. Then as I was looking for a work to fill the March 2026 slot, I wanted to do an Irish heritage centered work. I typed in "Irish Play" only to get an AI description of what exactly an Irish play's narrative included.
No thank you.
I though perhaps I could narrow down the search by typing in "A play about being Irish". The Google result listed this 2001 work by Dan O'Brien called "An Irish Play". Looked at the description of the play: an amateur theater company in Cork, Ireland; themes of identity and cultural representation; an African-American cast in a lead role of a Viking assassin in 941 A.D.; theater family dysfunction.
Oh hell yeah, I was sold. I went and order a script immediately.
When I finished reading the script, I put it down, sighed and said to myself, "this is exactly what I have been trying to say". I knew ART/WNY had to do it. And although it may ruffle a few feathers, this is a perfect theater narrative for our times. Not because it is full of complex Irish political intrigue. Not because the characters are Disneyfied cartoon renderings of drunk Irish men smashing skulls in Connemara. Not because we see Saint Patrick, a leprechaun and Michael Collins dancin' o' reel. Because this play is about the real-life discussions people are having throughout the world: cultural identity; immigration issues; the importance of arts to communities; mental illness; community breakdown. The topics that are now seemingly taboo to write about directly, but through the discourse of natural conversation -build brilliantly by Dan O'Brien - finds themselves in this narrative.
I truly admire the dedication and commitment this cast has given to the process of building "An Irish Play". This is an ensemble piece about the comradery found among theater production ensembles. From the very first read up to opening night, this cast bonded and through it have given these dysfunctional characters humanity. They all too well understood the ups and downs of being in a ensemble and executed the script perfectly while showing an honest rendering of the individuals they portray. I hope you find their work as enjoyable as I did throughout this entire process.
Special thanks to Catherine Burkhart for her dialect coaching. She worked with the actors to ensure as close as an accurate accent without the actors sounding like South Buffalo pirates. Kudos to her and the cast for working hard on the dialect of Cork, Ireland.
Enjoy "An Irish Play" and enjoy our evening's performance.
- Director, Matthew LaChiusa
Meet the Company
Catherine Burkhart
Catherine has a BFA in Theater from SUNY Fredonia and has been involved in Buffalo theater for many years. Acting and directing with numerous groups in the past: Aurora Players, Lancaster Regional and Rockinghorse Productions, she’s also a dialect coach. Working with American Repertory Theater of WNY, she co-directed London Calling and Concrete Christmas. She was proud to be a part of the cast of the Artie Award winning production of 2025’s “The Informer” and is thrilled to be back on stage in “ An Irish Play”. Originally from Syracuse, she works for M&T Bank and is a longtime yogi, an avid reader, and devotes many volunteer hours to Whispering River Animal Rescue in Gasport, NY caring for farm animals.
Trevor Dugan
Mr. Dugan’s most recent Buffalo Theatre role was in The Informer at American Repertory Theatre of Western New York where he earned his first Artie Award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actor In A Play. Also on the A.R.T. stage he starred in Mercy Seat (2023) and Fall From The Grace Of God (2022). Other acting credits include roles in Girls Who Walked On Glass (2019), Factory For Murderers (2020), Grown-Ass Lewis in The Buffalo Quickies (2021) and A Christmas Carol for five consecutive years (2021-25) at Alleyway Theatre as well as The Melville Boys (2024) and Biloxi Blues (2016) at Desiderio’s Dinner Theatre. He thanks his wife Madeline and the Buffalo Fire Department for supporting him in his second-front; the theatre.
John Della Contrada
John Della Contrada is a Buffalo-based actor, composer, writer, and director, with a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University at Buffalo. He was previously seen on the ART as Tommy Connor in The Informer and The German Soldier in Shylock. Recent acting credits include work with Theatre of Youth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Junie B. Jones) First Look Buffalo (Tea Party) and as The Cat in Niagara Arts and Cultural Center's Cat in the Hat. As a musician, John is the co-writer and composer of A Crack in the Egg: A New Rock Musical, with a concept EP coming out later this year with songs from the show. John is also active in the Buffalo film community, having co-written and directed a short for the 48 Hour Film Festival last summer with Frontline Productions.
Rick Lattimer
Rick Lattimer is the Co-Artistic Director of Buffalo United Artists. Recent acting credits include: PRESERVATION (First Look Buffalo Theatre Company), NIGHT WATCH (Lancaster Opera House), THE HUNG MAN (BUA), THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Shakespeare in Delaware Park), THE BOWLING PLAY (Second Generation Theatre) and THE KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN (New Phoenix Theatre), for which he received a Artie Nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play.
Brooke Goergen
Brooke has been acting in Buffalo and the WNY area for around 15 years. This will be her third production with ART of WNY, having previously been seen as Angie in Rust and Redemption (Artie nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play) and Siobhan McNamara in London Calling. Other favorite roles include Naomi in Deconstruction with First Look Buffalo, Jamison Black in Fahrenheit 451 with Subversive, and Kay Strange in Agatha Christie's Towards Zero with Aurora Players. She is incredibly grateful she gets to fight Facism daily as the Producer for Teen Reality Theatre of Planned Parenthood of CWNY and is very grateful for her family both on and offstage. Mom, Dad, Tommy, it's all coming up Goergen. Much love to The Bear Attacks and Seán.
Michael Starzynski
Michael Starzynski – (Willie) – is excited to be back on stage with ART. A four-time ARTIE nominee, some of Michael’s favorite roles include: Mr. Laurence (Little Women: the musical - Lockport Historic Palace), Walt (A Great Wilderness – BUA), John (Grumpy Old Men: The Musical – O’Connell & Company), Mayor Dobbs (Bright Star – Aurora Players), Willy (Death of a Salesman – Rocking Horse), 17 seasons of (Buffalo Quickies – Alleyway Theatre), and Lord Hastings (Richard the Third – Shakespeare in Delaware Park). A kindergarten teacher for the Buffalo Public Schools, Michael encourages you to: Support the Arts in Education - You never know what hidden talent is waiting to be discovered!
Robert Humphrey
The marks Robert's second ART/WNY production. He was last seen in Mark Humphrey's "The Break Song"
Dan O'Brien
Dan O’Brien is a playwright, poet, memoirist, essayist and librettist. His play Newtown, winner of the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award, premiered at Geva Theatre in 2024. The Body of an American, O’Brien’s play about the Battle of Mogadishu and the haunting of war reporter Paul Watson, was co-produced off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre by Primary Stages and Hartford Stage (New York Times Critic’s Pick) after a world premiere at Portland Center Stage. The play was produced in London at the Gate Theatre and at many theaters around the US and UK, including The Wilma Theater and Theater J. The Body of an American received the Horton Foote Prize, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize, the PEN Center USA Award, the L. Arnold Weissberger Award and was shortlisted for an Evening Standard Theatre Award in London. More recently his play The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage premiered at Boston Court Pasadena and received the PEN America Award for Drama. His libretto for Jonathan Berger’s Visitations: Theotokia and The War Reporter, two chamber operas commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mellon Foundation, premiered at Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University and at the Prototype Festival in New York City. Previous plays by O’Brien have premiered off-Broadway and at regional theatres including Second Stage Theatre, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Page 73 Productions, Ensemble Studio Theater, SoHo Playhouse and Geva Theatre. He has served as a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, the Djerassi Fellow in Playwriting at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the Tennessee Williams Fellow in Playwriting at The University of the South (Sewanee). He has frequently served on the playwriting faculty at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His work has been developed at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The New Harmony Project and elsewhere. He was the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. Previous awards include the American Theatre Critics Association’s M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for Best New Play by an Emerging Playwright. O’Brien is also a poet and a prose writer. He has published five collections of poetry in the US and UK, and has received the UK’s prestigious Fenton Aldeburgh Poetry Prize for his debut poetry collection, War Reporter. His prose has appeared in such publications as American Scholar, Esquire, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Times Literary Supplement, The Washington Post and elsewhere. In 2021, he published a collection of essays entitled A Story That Happens: On Playwriting, Childhood, & Other Traumas, and in 2023, he published Survivor’s Notebook (poems), From Scarsdale: A Childhood (memoir) and True Story: A Trilogy (plays). O’Brien lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actor and writer Jessica St. Clair, and their daughter Isobel.
Photo: Cambridge Jones.
Matthew LaChiusa
A proud graduate of SUNY Fredonia with a BFA in Creative Writing and minor in Theater, this marks Matthew's 26th production (23 plays and 3 musicals) he has directed at American Repertory Theater of WNY. During that tenure, he has earned two Artie Nominations for Best Direction of a Musical (American Idiot and Jesus Christ Superstar). Most favorite productions, up to date, include "The Informer"(Artie Award winning play for Best Original Play), "Something Wicked" (Artie Nominated play for Best Original Play), "American Idiot" (Artie Nominated for Best Musical Production and winner of the Best Ensemble of a Musical), and "A Behanding in Spokane". When not directing at the company, Matthew also serves as the Technical Director and leads American Repertory Theater of WNY as both the Artistic and Executive Director. He is grateful to the ensemble of "An Irish Play" for all the hard work, focus and commitment they have put into this piece. Namasta.
Stefanie Warnick
Stefanie Warnick is excited to be working with ART of WNY again! She is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Fight Directors of Canada, an actor, and Artistic Director of the Brazen-Faced Varlets. Stefanie holds a BFA in acting with a minor in stage management from Oklahoma City University. Favorite fight direction credits include: OUR LADY OF 121st ST. (Road Less Traveled Productions), MONSTERS OF THE AMERICAN CINEMA (Buffalo United Artists), SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (Torn Space Theater), HAMLET, and DESDEMONA: A PLAY ABOUT A HANDKERCHIEF (Brazen-Faced Varlets). Next up, see Stefanie’s fight direction in Road Less Traveled’s production of A FEW GOOD MEN (June 2026).
Ann Perno
Ann Perno is thrilled to be able to work on this production. Her career in live performance has stretched through 4 decades. When she is not at the theatre, Ann enjoys spending time with her family, running, yoga, and naps
Monica Morrisey
Monica has been dabbling in Buffalo theater for over a decade and is an active board member of ART. Past ART stage management credits include The Break Song (2024), The White Devil (2024), London Calling (2024), and Hellcab (2017). Monica is better known for her various clown characters and doing Shakespeare in bars. She'd like to thank her partner Charlie for his contributions to this production and everything he's done to support her during the rehearsal process.
Catherine Burkhart
As dialect coach for the show, Catherine was happy to assist in giving the characters an authentic Irish sound. While study theater at college, she decided she’d learn as many dialects as possible and has mastered 7 of the most common in theater. Catherine has assisted numerous theater companies in WNY with coaching. She finds dialect work fun and extremely rewarding.
ART/WNY Special Thanks
| American Repertory Theater of WNY would like to thank the following for the generosity and support for the 2025-26 season: |
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Thomas LaChiusa Catherine Burkhart Mark Humphrey Jason Stopwinski Paul McQuillen Megan Zoladz Sheri Sante Yianna Russo Peter Hall Michael Breen
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Suzanne Hibbard Danette Pawlowski Margaret Hodson Nate Chateaux Ann Perno Erika Kissack Kristine Brown Juli Grygier Melinda Miller Barbara Guancial |
The 2025-26 Board of Directors
Season Dedication
American Repertory Theater of WNY dedicates it entire 2025-26 season to company alumni Hugh Davis Jr who's life was tragically cut short this past summer. The company recognizes the need to draw attention to this country's chronic problems of untreated mental illness, military vets who receive poor health care & services, and gun violence. At the end of this season, ART/WNY will take a portion of ticket sales and donate, in the name of Hugh Davis, to organizations addressing these issues.
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