Irish Arts Center presents 

Malaprop
HOTHOUSE

U.S. PREMIERE

OCTOBER 23–NOVEMBER 17, 2024

Run time: 90 minutes. No intermission.

This performance includes instances of loud noise, strobe lights, haze, and references to sensitive topics such as domestic violence and suicide.

Writer: Carys D. Coburn with Malaprop
Director: Claire O’Reilly
Set and Costume Design: Molly O'Cathain
Songs and Music: Anna Clock
Lighting Design: John Gunning
Choreographers: Deirdre Griffin and Paula O’Reilly

Producer: Caoimhe Whelan
Production Manager: Grace Halton
Stage Manager: Sara Gannon
Assistant Stage Manager: Dragana Stevanic
Assistant Director: Ellen Buckley
Sound Engineer: El Theodorou 

Cast: Peter Corboy, Thommas Kane Byrne, Bláithín Mac Gabhann, Maeve O'Mahony, Ebby O'Toole Acheampong
Voice of Child: James Forde 

Promo Photography: Pato Cassinoni, with art direction by Molly O’Cathain

Originally commissioned by THISISPOPBABY for WHERE WE LIVE 2020.
Funded by The Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon.

U.S. Production Credits

Assistant Stage Manager (AEA): Terysa Malootian
Head Wardrobe: Kathe Mull
Wigs and Make-Up: Carina Metz
Moving Light Programmer: Manuel Da Silva
Light Board Operator: Peter Lopez 

Electricians: Jael Hoyos, Emily LaRochelle, Peter Lopez, Brain Staton, Sarazina Stein, Ryan Tumulty 

Carpenters: Jarod Bakum, Krystalee Diaz, Kiel Fuller, Michael Harbeck, Raymond Huth 

Sound Crew: Robert Byerly, Jack Dimaulo

Acknowledgements

Malaprop would like to thank Carla Rogers, Carys D. Coburn, Breffni Holahan, Pete Jordan, Evie McGuinness, Mary Sheehan, Simon Burke, Peter Bond, Tiel Starzynski, Eóin Murphy, Rebecca Roche, and everyone at field:arts, Sharon Barry, Ciaran Walsh, and the team at Culture Ireland, Gorilla Design, ArtFX.ie, The Digital Hub, Ruth McGowan, the Abbey Theatre, Bee Sparks and everyone at Dublin Fringe Festival, Niamh O’Donnell, Katherine Murphy, and the Irish Theatre Institute team, Jenny Jennings, THISISPOPBABY, Cally Shine, Juliette Crosbie, Roxanna Nic Liam, Amy Conroy, Martha Breen, Esosa Ighodaro, Iseult Deane, Choy-Ping Clarke-Ng, Ursula McGinn, Sibéal Davitt, Andrea Ainsworth, Ste Murray, Pato Cassinoni, Ros Kavanagh, Kestrel Wolgemuth, Rachael Gilkey, Mac Smith, and the whole team at Irish Arts Center.

A Note from Carys D. Coburn

“We’re not ignoring climate grief by laughing. We’re mixing it with something else until it transforms, mixing it lots of different ways so that we see it less and understand it more…HOTHOUSE goes to all sorts of times and places, but there’s one feeling at the center of it: wanting to be something else, knowing you need to change, not knowing how.”

—Carys D. Coburn
Writer of HOTHOUSE

Who's Who

Anna Clock (songs and music) is a composer, sound designer, writer, and dramaturg. Their work spans theatre, film, radio, installation, written texts, and live music. Recent theatre work includes Echo (Lift Festival 2024); The Duchess of Malfi (Shakespeare's Globe); Faith Healer and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Lyric Hammersmith); Jason Medea Medley (Staatsschauspiel Dresden); Graceland (Royal Court Theatre); A Family Business (China Plate Theatre/Staatstheater Mainz); Kabul Goes Pop (Brixton House); Electric Rosary (Manchester Royal Exchange); Crave (Chichester Festival Theatre); Speak Softly, Go Far (Abbey Theatre, digital); Another Planet (Lakeside Arts); Mystery Trip (Nigel & Louise); Inside (Orange Tree Theatre); The Effect (English Theatre Frankfurt); Earthquakes in London (Guildhall School of Music and Drama); I Wanna Be Yours (Paines Plough/Tamasha/UK tour/Bush Theatre); Not F**kin’ Sorry, Shuck ‘n’ Jive, Soft Animals, and Fabric (Soho Theatre); Groove and Looking Forward (BAC); and Mary & Maria (Camden People's Theatre).

Carys D. Coburn (writer), co-founder of Malaprop, won the 2017 Verity Bargate Award for Citysong (co-produced by Soho Theatre, the Abbey Theatre, and Galway International Arts Festival) and the 2022 Best Production Award at the Dublin Fringe for Absent the Wrong. Short work includes Me, Sara for the Abbey’s Priming the Canon series, ALASIALIAS for Paines Plough’s Come to Where I’m From project, and Our Mother, My Daughters for Draíocht Blanchardstown’s Home Theatre. Working with young people is a major strand of their practice; they are the author of Ask Too Much of Me for the NYT ensemble (Peacock Theatre 2019) and this is a room… for Dublin Youth Theatre (Dublin Theatre Festival 2017). They are currently under commission to write HandToMouthToMouthToHand for the National Theatre’s Connections program. They are the librettist, along with Annemarie Ní Chuirreáin, of Michael Gallen’s opera Elsewhere, which premiered on the Abbey stage in 2021, and the sole librettist of Horse Ape Bird, an INO and Music Generation co-commission by David Coonan. They contributed text to THISISPOPBABY’s WAKE and were the facilitators of the inaugural WEFT Studio Group, a peer mentorship and support network for Black artists and artists of color more broadly.

Peter Corboy (cast) has just finished filming a regular role in season two of Apple TV's Bad Sisters. He can be seen in The Vanishing Triangle on Acorn, and Flora & Son, written and directed by John Carney, also for Apple. He has extensive stage experience, including Multiple Casualty Incident at the Yard Theatre, Ulysses at Jermyn Street Theatre, Moon Licks for Paines Plough, and Much Ado About Nothing for Rough Magic.

John Gunning (lighting designer) is an alumnus of Dublin Youth Theatre and a founding member of Malaprop Theatre.

Lighting credits include Where Sat the Lovers, Everything Not Saved, Jericho, BlackCatfishMusketeer, and LOVE+ (Malaprop); Palimpsest (David Bolger/Coisceim); This Solution (Shaun Dunne); Navy Blue (Oona Doherty); Mosh (Rachel Ní Bhraonain); Tiny Plays 24/7 and Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future (Fishamble); Venus in Furs (Rough Magic SEEDS); The Roaring Banshees (Devious Theatre Co.); We Can’t Have Monkeys in the House (Sad Strippers); Bulrusher, The Three Sisters, The Laramie Project, and Demons (Lir Academy); and The Egg is a Lonely Hunter (Hannah Mamalis).

Bláithín Mac Gabhann (cast) most recently played Rose in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by Josie Rourke at the National Theatre, London. They won Best Supporting Actress at the 2022 Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards for their performance in Nancy Harris’s Our New Girl at the Gate Theatre and for their role as Mary (Masha) in Thomas Kilroy’s The Seagull, directed by Garry Hynes for Druid Theatre. Further credits include the role of Sharon Reid in the TV series Hidden Assets, F in Malaprop's Where Sat the Lovers, and roles in Channel 5's Penance and Hulu's Normal People.

Terysa Malootian's (assistant stage manager / AEA) credits include: New York City Gas, Other People’s Dead Dads, Richard III, Merry Wives of Windsor, Phantom Tollbooth, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Unicorn Girl (stage manager); The Rat Trap, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Life Span of a Fact, Windfall, Camelot, and Little Women (assistant stage manager); The Grift (production stage manager); Ragtime, Becoming Dr. Ruth, The Last Five Years, The Half-Light, A Christmas Carol, and Ben Butler (production assistant).

Molly O’Cathain (set and costume design) is a set and costume designer working across theatre, dance, and opera. She is a founding member and company designer for Malaprop Theatre. Her designs for Malaprop include Where Sat the Lovers, Before You Say Anything, Everything Not Saved, BlackCatfishMusketeer, and LOVE+. 

Molly’s other credits include The Magic Flute (Sofia Opera, Bulgaria), L'Olimpiade (Royal Opera House and Irish National Opera), Bajazet (Royal Opera House and Irish National Opera), An Octoroon (Abbey Theatre), Constellations (Gate Theatre), The Wrens (Dan Colley/Draíocht Arts Centre), Haunted and If These Wigs Could Talk (THISISPOPBABY), The Realistic Joneses (Dublin Theatre Festival and Laguna Playhouse, California), The Playboy of the Western World (Dublin Theatre Festival, the Gaiety Theatre, and Lyric Belfast), To the Lighthouse (Everyman/Hatch Productions), It Was Easy (in the end) (THEATREclub/Abbey Theatre), Absent the Wrong and Ask Too Much of Me (Peacock Theatre), Love Songs (Philip Connaughton Dance), and Minseach (Sibéal Davitt Dance).

Maeve O’Mahony (cast) is a theatre-maker, performer, and a founding member of Malaprop. She recently performed in Club Salty, a THISISPOPBABY cabaret, and is a 2024 THISISPOPBABY associate artist. Stage credits include Where Sat the Lovers, Before You Say Anything, LOVE+, Everything Not Saved, Jericho (Malaprop), and An Octoroon (Abbey Theatre), for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. Screen credits include the RTÉ Storyland productions of Everything Not Saved, Ripper Street, and Rebecca’s Boyfriend.

Claire O'Reilly (director) is an Irish theatre director based between London and Dublin. She is a co-founder of Malaprop Theatre. 

Recent projects include NEST, curated by Veronica Coburn (Draíocht Blanchardstown 2024); A Family Business by Chris Thorpe (Staatstheater Mainz, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg 2024); Talking About the Fire, created with Chris Thorpe (Royal Court Theatre 2023); and This Solution by Shaun Dunne (Dublin Theatre Festival 2023). Associate director credits include A Streetcar Named Desire (dir. Rebecca Frecknall, Phoenix Theatre 2023) and Dr. Semmelweis (dir. Tom Morris, Harold Pinter 2023). Assistant director credits include Uncle Vanya (Sonia Friedman Productions 2020) and Translations (Royal National Theatre 2019), both directed by Ian Rickson. Claire is a former resident director at the Abbey Theatre (2022–2023). She has a master's in drama directing from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (2019) and is a graduate of film and theatre at Trinity College Dublin (2015). She is currently developing a drama for young people for RTÉ.

Ebby O’Toole-Acheampong (cast) graduated from the Lir Academy in 2023. Theatre credits include The Quare Fellow (Abbey Theatre), Hungry (dir. Sorcha Harris), Untitled (dir. Wayne Jordan), Bulrusher (dir. Claire O'Reilly), The Winter's Tale (dir. Conall Morrison), and Lady Windermere’s Fan (dir. Tom Creed). Ebby has just wrapped filming of the new Channel 5 series The School Trip in Dublin, and recently filmed Moonflower Murders. Prior to training, Ebby appeared in the BBC's Redwater.

Caoimhe Whelan (producer) is a freelance theatre and dance producer, producing work for both young audiences and grown-ups. She is committed to giving life to high-quality theatre that is energetic, innovative, and meaningful. Caoimhe is currently producing work with companies Malaprop Theatre and Jess Rowell Dance, and independent artists Dee Roycroft and Emmet Kirwan. She is an associate producer with field:arts (2024). Upcoming credits include the premiere of Out of This World by Jess Rowell, amelia by Dee Roycroft, and a national tour of Accents by Emmet Kirwan. In 2023, Caoimhe participated in Branar's Meitheal initiative as the emerging producer in residence at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge. Previous to this, she lived and worked in Toronto, Canada (2018–2022), where she most recently held the position of people and operations manager with Luminato Festival. Before moving to Canada, Caoimhe worked primarily as a freelance stage manager with theatres and companies in Dublin including the Gate, Smock Alley, and Fishamble. She holds a BA Hons. in drama and theatre studies from Trinity College Dublin and is fluent in Irish. Caoimhe is a native Irish sign language user and passionate about providing access in the arts.

About Irish Arts Center

Founded in 1972 and based in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, Irish Arts Center is a home for artists and audiences of all backgrounds who share a passion or appreciation for the evolving arts and culture of contemporary Ireland and Irish America. We present, develop, and celebrate work from established and emerging artists and cultural practitioners, providing audiences with emotionally and intellectually engaging experiences in an environment of Irish hospitality. Steeped in grassroots traditions, we also provide community education programs and access to the arts for people of all ages and ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In a historic partnership of the people of Ireland and New York, Irish Arts Center recently completed construction on a fully-funded $60MM state-of-the-art new facility to support this mission for the 21st century.

About Malaprop

Formed in 2015, Malaprop Theatre is an award-winning collective of theatre-makers based in Dublin, Ireland. Their work is bold, playful, and genre-spanning, aiming to challenge, delight, and speak to the world we live in (even when imagining different ones). 

Work to date includes LOVE+; JERICHO; Everything Not Saved; GULP; Before You Say Anything; Where Sat the Lovers; and HOTHOUSE. Malaprop has performed in Ireland, the UK, France, China, Australia, and now the USA. Malaprop is an associate company of field:arts.

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)

The U.S. stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the U.S. AEA was founded in 1913 as the first of the American actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote, and foster the art of live theater as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers, and stage managers working in hundreds of theaters across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theaters as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theater has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.

Irish Arts Center Staff

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gerrard Boyle 
Andrew Breslin
Aidan Connolly
Kristine Covillo
John S. Daly
Robert M. Devlin
Celestine Donaghy
John Duffy
Kathleen Fee
Russell Gioiella
Loretta Brennan Glucksman
Shaun Kelly 
John Martin
Robert J. McCann
Shane Naughton
Sharon Patrick
James E. Quinn
Pauline Turley

STAFF 

Elise Bargman (Ticketing and Marketing Data Manager)
Zohra Coday (Programming and Education Associate)
Aidan Connolly (Executive Director)
Manuel Da Silva (Production Manager and Lighting Supervisor)
Shannon Ducey (Administrative Manager)
Chloe Eisen (Development Associate)
Fiona Farrell (Communications and Marketing Associate)
Vivian Fong (Director of Communications and Marketing)
Rachael W. Gilkey (Director of Programming and Education)
Laney Granito (Special Events Coordinator)
Jon Harper (Chief Operating Officer)
Anah Klate (Audience Services Manager)
Andy O'Reilly (Artist Services Manager)
Barry Ó Séanáin (Director of Development)
Ciara O'Shea (Communications and Marketing Associate)
Emma Reifschneider (Executive Assistant)
Jessie Reilly (Director of Education, Family and Community Programming)
Thomas Short (Stage Supervisor)
Teresa Shyr (Development Associate)
Mac Smith (Director of Production)
Pauline Turley (Vice Chair)
Dennis Walls (Director of Facility Operations)
Kestrel Wolgemuth (Associate Director of Programming)

Tehmina Anjum (Senior Accountant, NCheng)
Desaann Legzim (Senior Accountant, NCheng)
Wenbin Nie (Supervising Senior, NCheng)
Vera Wong (Senior Accountant, NCheng)

Pat Morin (Graphic Designer)
Taylor Panetti (Graphic Designer)

Blake Zidell (Public Relations Consultant, Blake Zidell & Associates) 

Sarah Iles (Special Events Intern)
Cynthia Leung (Development Intern)
Maya Ryan (Communications and Marketing Intern)
Sarah Shanahan (Development Intern)
Matt Storti (Programming Intern)