A Life, a sequel of sorts to Hugh Leonard's Tony-winning Da, returns to New York City in a revival by Irish Repertory Theatre. This new staging, directed by Charlotte Moore, runs June 19-Aug. 12 with an opening June 28.
Tony winner Fritz Weaver (Child's Play, Ring Round the Moon) stars as Desmond Drumm, the difficult and proud father at the center of Da. As the civil servant nears his retirement, he suddenly discovers he's going to die in six months. Instead of telling others of his illness, the haughtily intellectual Drumm decides to make amends with Mary Kearns, the woman he loved and lost forty years earlier. He has no desire to bury the hatchet with her husband Lar, however, and endlessly insults the likeable layabout.
Olivier winner Pauline Flanagan (Dolly West's Kitchen) is Mary Kearns. Flanagan was Drama Desk nominated in 1982 for Medea, starred in Innocents with Claire Bloom in Philadelphia, The Beauty Queen of Leenane in Cincinnati and the recent Irish Rep staging of O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars.
Also in the cast are Jarlath Conroy (as Lar), David Costelloe, Paddy Croft, John Keating, Heather O'Neill and Deidriu Ring.
Tickets are $35-$40. The Irish Repertory Theatre is located at 132 West 22nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. For reservations, call (212) 727-2737. — By Christine Ehren