Abbey Theatre Director Speaks at US-Ireland Alliance New York Event
Fiach Mac Conghail, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, was the guest of honour last night at an event hosted by the US-Ireland Alliance at Y92 Tribeca in New York City.
Among the guests were leaders in the theatre community in the US including: Neil Pepe and Jeffrey Lawson, the Artistic and Managing Directors of the Atlantic Theater Company; Edgar Dobie, Managing Director of Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage; Mark Russell, producer of the Public Theater’s Under the Radar festival; producer Tony Micocci; Heidi Mathis of the Shubert Organization; George Heslin, Artistic Director of Origin; Mara Isaacs, Producing Director of the McCarter Theatre; and Michael Rose, Managing Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
Also on hand was Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Anne Anderson.
The last time the US-Ireland Alliance hosted an event for the Abbey in 2006, it introduced Fiach Mac Conghail to Oskar Eustis, which led to a successful relationship between the Public Theater and the Abbey.
Fiach Mac Conghail was in New York to finalise plans for the January 2010, American premiere of Ages of the Moon at the Atlantic Theater.
Having just arrived in New York after celebrating Brian Friel’s 80th birthday at the Abbey, Mac Conghail spoke of the ties between Irish and American playwrights as well as the Abbey’s connection to America, dating back to the early part of the 20th century when W.B. Yeats visited America to raise funds for the Abbey.
Mac Conghail talked of Sean O’Casey’s impact on Eugene O’Neill, and Samuel Beckett’s influence on David Mamet and Sam Shepard. He also thanked the many of producers and directors in attendance responsible for bringing Irish plays to US audiences.
In introducing Fiach Mac Conghail, US-Ireland Alliance president, Trina Vargo noted their shared concern about cuts in arts funding, “theatre, music, and writing are what make Ireland attractive to tourists and, in places like the US, Ireland’s creative industries are what sets Ireland apart.” Mac Conghail talked about the current economic crisis in Ireland noting that, “In Ireland we need theatre and the promotion of culture more than ever. Our writers and poets have yet to fail us.” He also noted the importance of Ireland’s need for re-imaging its relationship with the US, a theme regularly promoted by Vargo and the US-Ireland.