NEW ZEALAND PREMIERE

OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

Written by JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY

Directed by LISA WARRINGTON Featuring: Geraldine Brophy (Shortland Street, Second hand Wedding, Outrageous Fortune), Lara Macgregor (When the Rain Stops Falling, Love, Loss and What I Wore), Simon O’Connor (Heavenly Creatures, Heroes, Gifted) and Phil Vaughan (Peninsula, The Tutor, Boeing, Boeing)

Fortune Theatre, 7-28 February, 2015

Heart-breaking, funny as hell and deeply moving… John Patrick Shanley’s play—nominated for a 2014 Tony Award— opens Fortune Theatre’s 2015 Season. The New York Times called it “Shanley’s finest work since Doubt,” which won Shanley the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play.

Outside Mullingar tells the story of Anthony and Rosemary, two introverted misfits straddling 40. Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, which suits him well since he’s painfully shy. Rosemary lives next door and has developed a deep affection for Anthony despite having met him as a mischievous child. With a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe.

Last seen on Fortune Theatre’s stage in Calendar Girls, Lisa Warrington will have it all covered as director of Outside Mullingar. Lisa has secured an outstanding cast including: Geraldine Brophy, joining the production directly off her Australasian tour of Grumpy Old Women, and, for the first time since her appointment as Artistic Director, Lara Macgregor will be appearing as Rosemary in this NZ premiere, alongside Simon O’Connor and Phil Vaughan.

In the play, Rosemary and Tony’s journey, played by real-life couple Lara Macgregor and Phil Vaughan, is heart-breaking, funny, and deeply moving. This NZ premiere has been called an “Irish Moonstruck”— the 1987 film that won John Patrick Shanley an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Lisa Warrington is delighted to be directing Outside Mullingar for the Fortune. "It's a play of robust humour mixed with surprising beauty and delicacy which gently touches on those profound experiences of life, love and death."

Outside Mullingar is a tender hearted new play about how it’s never too late to take a chance on love.

Proudly presented by: Allan Scott Family Winemakers

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION  

CREW Writer John Patrick Shanley Director Lisa Warrington Set Designer Mark McEntyre Lighting Designer Martyn Roberts Sound Designer Matthew Morgan Costume Designer Maryanne Wright-Smyth Stage Manager Monique Webster

KEY EVENTS / DATES

Lunchtime Bites / Thursday, 29 January meet at 12.15pm in the Dunedin Public Library, ground floor. Geraldine Brophy, Lara Macgregor, Simon O’Connor, and Phil Vaughan will perform an excerpt from Outside Mullingar with an opportunity to win tickets. Reading will commence at 12.30pm followed by afternoon tea. This is a FREE event.

Opening Night / Saturday, 7 February 7.30pm, Fortune Theatre. Members’ Briefing / Sunday, 8 February, 2015 Join the director at the Fortune bar at 3.00pm for a lively informal chat about

Outside Mullingar Forum / Tuesday, 10 February, 2015 Join the cast and crew for an open question and answer session following the 6.00pm show.

Audio Describe Performance / Sunday, 22 February, 2015 An audio described performance offered in collaboration with Experience Access for visually impaired patrons and friends. Bookings essential.

About John Patrick Shanley

An accomplished and award-winning writer and director, John Patrick Shanley has written extensively for film and the stage. His play Doubt, which opened off-Broadway in 2004, became the first of his plays to transfer to Broadway and then to the screen. The screen adaptation of Doubt, written and directed by Shanley, has earned him 2009 Academy Award and Writers Guild Award nominations for best adapted screenplay. While on Broadway, Doubt won numerous awards, including the Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, The Drama League Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Pulitzer. Shanley’s original screenplays include: Five Corners, Moonstruck, for which he won an Oscar and a Writers Guild Award, The January Man and Joe Versus The Volcano, which he also directed. Five Corners was awarded the Special Jury Prize for screenplay at the Barcelona Film Festival. Shanley also wrote the adapted screenplay for Alive. His long list of acclaimed plays, many of which he directed in their original productions, includes: Defiance, Savage In Limbo, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, Beggars In the House of Plenty, Where’s My Money?, Italian American Reconciliation, Four Dogs And A Bone, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Dirty Story, which earned Shanley a Drama Desk nomination. Shanley currently resides in New York.

Production Dates 7 February – 28 February, 2015

Running Time Approx. 2 hours including interval Venue Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Directed by Lisa Warrington Cast Geraldine Brophy, Lara Macgregor, Simon O’Connor and Phil Vaughan

Performances Tuesday, 6.00pm, Wednesday-Saturday, 7.30pm, Sunday, 4.00pm (no show Monday)

Tickets Gala (first 5 shows) $34, Adults $42, Senior Citizens $34, Members $32, Tertiary Students $20, High School Students $15, Group discount (10 +) $34

Bookings Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin, Box Office 03 477 8323 or visit www.fortunetheatre.co.nz

For further information, imagery or interview/photo opportunities please contact: Lucy Summers, Marketing Manager T: (03) 477 1292 ext. 2 M: 021 108 3046 E: marketing@fortunetheatre.co.nz www.fortunetheatre.co.nz