A festival of Irish Theatre


Across New York City | 1stIrish.org


September 7 to October 4, 2010





ORIGIN Theatre Company, founded in 2002 by George C. Heslin, is a not-for-profit

cross-cultural theatre company dedicated to the cultivation, development, and interpretation

of new and emerging European playwrights by offering New York audiences American

premieres of their work.

Origin has been carving a place for innovative, European writing in New York since its inception in 2002.

The company has produced several critically acclaimed productions, including the world premiere of

Rundown by award winning Irish writer Mark O’Rowe. This was our inaugural production,

launching the career of Mr. O Rowe, who subsequently went on to be presented at Fishamble Theatre Company,

The Bush Theatre London, The Abbey Theatre and most recently Dublin’s Gate Theatre.The American

premiere of

Mistermanby award winning Irish writer Enda Walsh(Stewart Parker award for best Irish Writer 2000),

opened off-Broadway and played to sold-out houses. It was later invited to play the prestigious

Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and finished at the Dublin Festival where it was short-listed

in the best production and best actor categories.

Through the formation of dynamic connections between New York and Europe, we have

presented the American premiere ofCommunion by Aidan Mathews, one of lreland's leading talents,

Crestfall by Mark O Rowe,Trousers by David Parnell and Paul Meade, and The Shape of Metal

by Tom Kilroy. We were honoured to be the first company in the U.S. to present the work of

British writer Samuel Adamson, with our production of Clocks and Whistles.

Origin is committed to its cross-cultural mission, and will continue developing new plays with our

Reading Room Series at Fordham University and our Mondays of May reading series at

NYU Glucksman Ireland House. Each year we feature plays from Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland.

The four events have been supported by NYU Ireland House, The Wales International Center and The

Irish Consulate. Origin already has a far-reaching portfolio of new-writing projects in development.

To date, Origin has successfully co-produced with the Guna Nua Theatre, Dublin; Irish Arts Centre, NYC;

The Civic Theatre, Dublin; The Irish Repertory Theatre, NYC; Daedalus Theatre, NYC; EVN Productions, NYC;

Fat Chance Productions, NYC; and Draoicht Arts Centre, Dublin.


Grief works its own miracles, and it is miraculous how much drama author
Dermot Bolger packs into "The Holy Ground," considering that it's a one-hour,
one-woman story of an empty, thwarted life.
The Prophet of Monto gets beneath your skin….Listening to this yarn is highly entertaining.
It makes you feel as if you have been button-holed by its 2 Dubliners, who won’t let you
go until they have delivered their strange and unsettling story in toto…..The author,
by putting his imagination to work, gives us characters we can care about…
.Theaterscene.net

Laoisa Sexton and Michael Mellamphy Photo by Dan Brick If you suddenly hear more
New Yorkers speaking with a brogue, chances are they have just left the Flea Theater,
where John Paul Murphy’s The Prophet of Monto is running through September 25th.
Murphy’s comic drama of love, lust, and lost dreams ...
George C. Heslin:
Artistic Director

George has been an actor, director and producer for seventeen years. He is a graduate of the Samuel Beckett Centre Trinity College Dublin,The Abbey Theatre Dublin Directors Program and The HB Studio New York where he studied with the legendary Uta Hagen.

Prior to college he was resident stage manager at Dublin’s Gate Theatre where he worked on 11 productions. He spent time in the drama department in RTE Irelands national TV station.

As an actor he recently completed the Broadway national tour of the hit show Stones In His Pockets. In New York he has appeared in many off-Broadway productions including Juno and The Paycock at The Roundabout , The Blowin of Baile Gall Irish Arts Centre and The Colleen Bawn Irish Repertory Theatre (Drama Desk Nomination) and his one man show Misterman (short listed for best actorat the Dublin festival). Regionally he has played at The Kennedy Center, Old Globe San Diego, Pittsburgh Public, Studio Arena Buffalo,
Virginia Stage Company, Penguin Rep, The Caldwell Theatre Florida and Syracuse Stage, to name a few.

London stage appearances include The Kings Head, The Drill Hall and he has played twice on London’s West End with Philadelphia Here I Come and The British Premiere of Elegies.

In Ireland he has worked with almost every theatre company including The Abbey Theatre Ireland’s National Theatre, Druid Theatre Company, The Gate, The Olympia ,Passion Machine, and The Lyric Theatre Belfast.

Film and TV includes The Boxer, De ja Vu, Third Watch and As The World Turns for C.B.S. Feature films include Three Days In Dublin with Gretchen Moll.