Casting Announced for Off-Broadway Revival of Brian Friel’s Translations

Irish Repertory Theatre has announced casting for its upcoming production of Brian Friel’s Translations, which is set to begin previews on the company’s Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage on October 20 ahead of an official opening night on October 29. Performances are scheduled through December 3.

First produced by Derry’s Field Day Theatre Company in 1980 (and then off-Broadway by Manhattan Theatre Club in 1981), Translations takes place in 1833 in the community of Baile Beag, where a group of Royal Engineers have just arrived to standardize the names of places into English. Tensions arise between the locals and the outsiders tasked with erasing a part of their Irish culture.

The cast of Translations will include Raffi Barsoumian (Privacy), Owen Campbell (Hangmen), Rufus Collins (The Dead, 1904), John Keating (Autumn Royal), Owen Laheen (Belfast Girls), Sean McGinley (Ages of the Moon), Seth Numrich (Leopoldstadt), Oona Roche (“The Morning Show”), Erin Wilhelmi (To Kill a Mockingbird), and Mary Wiseman (An Octoroon).

Doug Hughes directs the production, which will feature scenic design by Charlie Corcoran, costume design by Alejo Vietti, lighting design by Michael Gottlieb, sound design by Ryan Rumery and M. Florian Staab, with original music by Ryan Rumery, and properties by Deirdre Brennan.

Conor Bagley is the associate director, James Fitzsimmons is the production stage manager, and Shanna Allison is the stage manager.

Translations is the first production of three in the Irish Rep’s Friel Project, a retrospective of the playwright that will coincide with the company’s 35th anniversary.