ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage presents Ireland’s famed Abbey Theatre and the Boston premiere of Mark O’Rowe’s acclaimed Terminus. This visit by Abbey Theatre comes exactly 100 years after their American debut in 1911, in Boston.
Terminus will be performed Feb. 8—13, 2011 at the Paramount Mainstage (559 Washington Street, in Boston’s Theatre District). Performance times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Running time is one hour, 40 minutes. Tickets, starting at $25, are on sale now at www.artsemerson.org or by phone at (617) 824-8000. The presentation is part of ArtsEmerson’s Irish Festival, which also includes the world premiere of The Color of Rose, a work told through the eyes of the Kennedy matriarch and Ireland’s Druid Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan. ArtsEmerson’s Irish Festival is supported in part by Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland’s year of Irish arts in America in 2011 and the American Ireland Fund. For more information about ArtsEmerson’s Irish Festival, visit www.bit.ly/IrishFestival.
Ireland’s Abbey Theatre was founded in 1903 by W. B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory. The organization creates world-class theatre that actively engages with and reflects Irish society, placing the writer and theatre artist at its heart. The company’s first appearance in the United States was here in Boston, in September of 1911, when they opened Synges’ The Playboy of the Western World, at the brand new Plymouth Theatre, which was located at 131 Stuart Street. (I believe this would be the current site of the Transportation Building.) According to Abbey Theatre’s archivist, “The play was an instant success, and the audience enthusiastic. Owing to condemnatory resolutions passed by a number of Irish societies, there was some booing in the gallery, but the boohers were ejected. Reviews of The Playboy were universally laudatory. The Abbey Company’s Boston engagement had been so successful that the season had been extended for a fortnight.” Mayor John F. Fitzgerald (“Honey Fitz”) came to the performance to welcome Yeats, and according to The Boston Sunday Post was so enthused he neglected other important engagements and remained through the evening, applauding until he split his gloves. (Of course, Honey Fitz was the father of Rose Kennedy, the subject of The Color of Rose, also part of ArtsEmerson’s Irish Festival.)

One hundred years later, and just around the corner, Abbey Theatre brings its roaring hit Terminus by Mark O’Rowe. From bustling streets to the skies above Dublin and deep into the bowels of the earth, three actors take the audience on an incredible journey through a night of strange and fantastical occurrences. Vast, elaborate and enthralling narratives are presented with stark simplicity in this thrilling and breathtaking international hit production. This dark work shows the raw and sometimes violent underside of Dublin life, using a rapid-fire and beautifully rhythmic poetry that contrasts the gritty subject matter. Yet it is filled with humor, hope and so much humanity that audiences leave with a greater sense of being.
For more information about the Abbey Theatre, visit http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/
ArtsEmerson’s Irish Festival is supported in part by Culture Ireland (http://www.cultureireland.com) and by the American Ireland Fund (www.irlfunds.org).

About ArtsEmerson
ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage is a new arts organization established by Emerson College, committed to presenting legendary and pioneering artists from throughout the world. ArtsEmerson programs include culturally enriching theatre, film and music, all presented in Emerson’s historic and new venues in the heart of Boston’s Theatre District: the Cutler Majestic Theatre, the Paramount Mainstage, an intimate Black Box theatre, and the Bright Family Screening Room (the latter three all located within the Paramount Center). Much of the work of ArtsEmerson, under the artistic leadership of Rob Orchard, will evolve out of periodic, multi-year artist residencies at the College designed to facilitate the creation of new work and to provide opportunities for students, faculty and the community to engage in the creative process, with access to some of the most distinguished and distinct artists working today. For more information, visit www.artsemerson.org.

About Emerson College
Located on Boston Common in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson is the only four-year private college in the United States devoted to communication and the arts. With 3,453 undergraduates and 837 graduate students from across the United States and 40 countries, Emerson is teaching the next generation of leaders in communication and the arts. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 60 student organizations and performance groups, 15 NCAA teams, student publications, honor societies, television stations including the Emerson Channel, and WERS-FM, the nation’s highest rated student-run radio station. The College is internationally known for its study and internship programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.emerson.edu.

About Imagine Ireland
Imagine Ireland is Culture Ireland’s year-long season of Irish arts in the US. Over 400 events will take place across 40 states in theatre, dance, music, film, literature and visual arts. For more information visit www.imagineireland.ie

About Culture Ireland
Culture Ireland is the state agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide, working under the aegis of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. Culture Ireland creates and supports opportunities for Irish artists to present their work at strategic international festivals, venues, showcases and arts markets. The agency comprises a board appointed by the Minister and an executive staff led by the Chief Executive. www.cultureireland.gov.ie