(Cincinnati, OH) Pack your bags and grab your passport! Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s closes its 29th season with an adventure across the pond in the regional premiere of OUTSIDE MULLINGAR by John Patrick Shanely, one the most celebrated contemporary playwrights. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® for his play Doubt and an Academy Award for his film Moonstruck, he is also the screenwriter and director of the cult classic Joe Versus the Volcano. OUTSIDE MULLINGAR takes audiences to lush Ireland with a charming story of two families and their journey with fate as the vast countryside teaches them about identity, heritage, and love. Join ETC as Irish banter, family loyalty, and Guinness (of course!) floods the stage in this romantic comedy, playing May 5-45, 2015.
This production welcomes a powerhouse ensemble cast: Dales Hodges, Jen Joplin, Joneal Joplin, and Brian Isaac Phillips. ETC is also pleased to welcome back Guest Director Ed Stern for OUTSIDE MULLINGAR.
Tony Reilly is getting old. With his wife dead and gone and his own time approaching, he threatens to leave the family’s cattle farm to an American nephew instead of his own son, Anthony. That is, until neighbor Rosemary steps in with a long-held family secret to change Anthony’s fate — and her own. Set in the Irish countryside, this is the story of Anthony and Rosemary — loners, eccentric souls, and, perhaps, just right for each other.
“John Patrick Shanley writes so beautifully from the heart and about the heart,” explains Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “He has a real gift for capturing how difficult love is to be fully realized. He takes us to a place where the land is eternal and generations old. I love the fact that the play celebrates the inheritance of that kind of legacy.” Director Ed Stern adds, “I love the inherent optimism of the play. Despite loneliness and suffering, love will find a way. How rare in theatre today.”
About the Cast
Dales Hodges (Aoife Muldoon) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, having last appeared in the regional premieres of Other Desert Cities, Mrs. Mannerly, 33 Variations, and Grey Gardens. Her other ETC credits include: String of Pearls, Bed Among the Lentils, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Vigil, Side Man, The Skriker, Going to St. Ives, Death of a Salesman, The Illusion, Seascape, A School for Scandal, Everything in the Garden, Buckminster Fuller, In & Out of the Universe, and Eleemosynary. Ms. Hodges’ Playhouse in the Park credits include: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, The Piano Teacher, The Crucible, King Lear, Ten Little Indians, Wit, The Importance of Being Earnest, Our Country’s Good, How the Other Half Loves, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Equus, and twenty-two seasons of A Christmas Carol. She has also performed in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s productions of The Grapes of Wrath, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Merchant of Venice, and Coriolanus, and on the stage of Cincinnati Music Hall, as a narrator with the Symphony, and as the Duchess of Krakenthorpe in La Fille du Régiment with the Cincinnati Opera.
Jen Joplin (Rosemary Muldoon) made her Ensemble Theatre debut last season as Ruth in Tribes and one of her all-time favorites, Gwen in Rapture, Blister Burn. Originally from St. Louis, she has worked across the country as an actress, corporate trainer, voiceover artist, and teacher. Some of her other favorite roles include Annette in God of Carnage, Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra, Catherine in Proof, Maria in Twelfth Night, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, Bun in The Love Talker and Harper in Angels in America. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and graduate of Wright State University.
Joneal Joplin (Tony Reilly) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, having last appeared in The Seafarer and Copenhagen. Cincinnati theatergoers have also seen him in productions at the Playhouse in the Park and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Roles have included A Christmas Carol as Scrooge, The Fantasticks, Lear in King Lear, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Matthew Brady in Inherit The Wind, James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey, Krapp in Krapps Last Tape, Ernie Smith in Hughie and Candy in Of Mice and Men, to name a few. He has appeared in theatres across the country in over 250 productions, most recently at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner as Monsignor Ryan.
Brian Isaac Phillips (Anthony Reilly) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, having last appeared in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Seafarer, Ice Floe, and the Off-Center Series production of God’s Country. Other recent credits include Collapse at Know Theatre, Porgy & Bess and Carmen at the Cincinnati Opera, as well as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Other favorites include the title roles in Hamlet, Macbeth and Henry V, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Weir, all with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, The Goat or Who is Sylvia with New Stage Collective, as well as productions with Playhouse in the Park and the Children’s Theatre. He is currently serving his 12th season as Producing Artistic Director at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
Production team includes Joseph P. Tilford (Scenic Designer), Brian c. Mehring (Lighting Designer), Jack Murphy (Technical Director), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Coordinator & Master Electrician), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), Reba Senske (Costume Designer), and Rocco Dal Vera (Dialect Coach). Production Stage Manager is Brandon T. Holmes.
Ticket Prices
Ticket prices range from $28 to $44 for adults; student tickets are $25; and children are $18. For the 2014-2015 season, ETC continues its popular $15 student and half-price rush tickets for all performances, which are available two hours prior to show time and may be purchased by phone or in person at the box office.
Performance Schedule
Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 pm; and Sunday, 7:00 pm. A complete calendar is available at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
2014-2015 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Additional support provided by Garfield Suites Hotel, the Shubert Foundation, and PNC.
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.
