Ulster American

Description

Would you mind if I asked you a troubling question? Jay is the Oscar-winning actor taking the lead in a new play that connects with his Irish roots. Leigh is the ambitious director who will do anything to get noticed. Ruth is the Northern Irish playwright whose voice must be heard. The stage is set for great success, but when the three meet to discuss the play's challenges and provocations, a line is crossed and the heated discussion quickly escalates to a violent climax. Exploring consent, abuses of power and the confusions of cultural identity, Ulster American is confrontational, brutally funny and not for the faint of heart. David Ireland's recent plays include Cyprus Avenue which won the James Tait Black Award 2017 and Best Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in summer 2018.

David Ireland trained as an actor at the RSAMD (now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in Glasgow. He was Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast from 2011-12. His first play What the Animals Say was produced at Oran Mor in Glasgow and transferred to the Belfast Festival. His other plays include: Everything Between Us, which won the Meyer-Whitworth Award and the Stewart Parker BBC Award; The End of Hope, The End of Desire (Oran Mor), Half a Glass of Water (Field Day) Yes So I Said Yes (Ransom Productions), Can't Forget About You (Lyric, Belfast), Most Favoured (Traverse/ Oran Mor), The Hen Night (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Summertime (Tinderbox), I Promise You Sex and Violence (Northern Stage), Blood Wedding (Dundee Rep Ensemble/Graeae) and Cyprus Avenue (Royal Court/Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

This insightful playwright avoids a neat emotional resolution. He explores the impact of decades of violence and hatred and leaves his characters suspended [Four stars] * Guardian review of 'Everything Between Us' * The play is so funny - wickedly, irresponsibly, cruelly funny - you might write it off as juvenile in the first five minutes. By its conclusion, though, it seems like one of the most slyly mature peices about conflict in 'post conflict' Northern Ireland yet written. How can we move forward, after everything between us? Not by exorcising the truth, and our destructive tendencies, but by learning to live with them. [Four stars] * Irish Times review of 'Everything Between Us' *