Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre

The life and work of the award-winning Irish-American playwright, Eugene O’Neill, will be celebrated in New Ross from 9^th- 13^th October 2019.

The Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross will be both a cultural and a civic celebration of the strong ties between Ireland and the United States exemplified by O’Neill’s Irish heritage.

Eugene O’Neill’s father James, along with his parents and siblings, lived in nearby Tinneranny and emigrated from New Ross. Eugene O’Neill famously said, “The one thing that explains more than anything about me is the fact that I’m Irish.”

The cultural tie between the two countries will be reinforced by the partnership of the O’Neill Ancestral Trust of New Ross and the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, of Danville, California, to produce the international O’Neill festival we are calling “One Festival, Two Countries.” The first half of the festival, the 20th Annual Eugene O’Neill Festival in Danville, will be held throughout September 2019, and the second half, the Second Annual Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre, will be held in New Ross October 9-13, 2019.

For it’s second year, the New Ross festival ,taking place in the historic St Michael’s Theatre, will present an especially strong program.

We are taking advantage of the Dunbrody, the full-scale replica of a Famine Ship anchored in New Ross, to present a site-specific production of O’Neill’s Glencairn cycle of one-act sea plays.

Thursday 10th & Friday 11th October sees Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’ often regarded as his finest work presented by the Eugene O’Neill Foundation Tao directed by Eric Frazier Hayes .

The Irish contribution to Danville’s festival this year will be Renowned Irish soprano Clodagh Kinsella, in a concert of “Irish Airs and Arias”.