The Irish Repertory Theatre has been named the 2011 recipient of the Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award, given annually by the Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. (IAW&A). Irish Repertory Theatre founders Charlotte Moore, who is also the company's artistic director,
and Ciarán O'Reilly, producing director, will accept the award at a festive celebration on the evening of Monday. October 17 at The Manhattan Club (800 7th Avenue), just north of the Times Square location where O'Neill was born and one day after the 123rd anniversary of his birth.
Opening its doors in 1988 with Sean O'Casey's "The Plough and the Stars," The Irish Repertory Theatre has consistently pursued its mission to bring works by Irish and Irish American masters and contemporary playwrights to American audiences, to provide a context for understanding the contemporary Irish-American experience, and to encourage the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish-American experience.
IAW&A board member T.J. English said, "Irish American Writers and Artists is proud to present its 2011 Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award to Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O'Reilly, the founders of The Irish Repertory Theatre. Together, starting with little more than a shared dream and indefatigable determination, they've made the Rep into one of the theatrical community's most creatively vibrant and artistically significant venues. Along with their brilliant staging of
O'Neill's plays, Charlotte and Ciarán have presented season after season of critically acclaimed productions. With the Rep, they've done for Irish theater in New York what Yeats and Lady Gregory did for Dublin with the Abby. Their contributions to the arts in general and Irish-American culture in particular are immeasurable. They've richly earned this award."
Moore and O'Reilly wrote, "It is an honor pure and simple to be recognized for our work, but to receive an award with Eugene O'Neill in the title is deeply meaningful." They quotEd O'Neill himself to summarize the vision that drives and sustains the Irish Rep: "'The people who succeed and do not push on to a greater failure are the spiritual middle-classers. The man who sets out for the mere attainable should be sentenced to get it--and keep it. Only through the unattainable does man achieve a hope worth living and dying for--and so attain himself.' In that spirit of perpetual striving," they concluded, "we treasure this award both for the honor it brings and the inspiration it provides."
On behalf of the board of the Irish Rep, chairperson Ellen McCourt spoke of the "generous, innovative, creative, and oh let's just say it, brilliant" work that Charlotte and Ciaran have done in bringing the Irish Rep to where it is today. "The Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award," McCourt said, "is an especially appropriate honor. From the moment they opened their doors with Sean O'Casey's ‘The Plough and the Stars,' in 1988, the theatrical community has been
continually enriched by a remarkable series of Irish and Irish-American productions. Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal puts it simply when he describes The Irish Repertory Theatre as ‘one of the finest theatre companies in America.' Ciaran and Charlotte are true heroes as well as great artists. I can't imagine two worthier recipients of the O'Neill Award."
In addition to the Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award, the Irish Rep has been honored with the 2007 Jujamcyn Award, a special Drama Desk Award for "Excellence in Presenting Distinguished Irish drama," and the Lucille Lortel Award for "Outstanding Body of Work."
