Opening Season: 1988–1989 and Season 2: 1989–1990: The Plough and the Stars, Whistle in the Dark, Yeats! A Celebration, and Philadelphia, Here I Come!

“Opening Season: 1988–1989 and Season 2: 1989–1990: The Plough and the Stars, Whistle in the Dark, Yeats! A Celebration, and Philadelphia, Here I Come!,” discusses the successful first two seasons of the Irish Repertory Theatre Company. The chapter focuses on the company’s inaugural production, The Plough and the Stars, by Sean O’Casey, as well as the first of their annual benefit galas, entitled Yeats! A Celebration, by William Butler Yeats. The chapter also describes the company’s well-received 1990 production of Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come!, the first of thirteen productions of Friel plays that the company has staged between 1988–2024. The chapter also includes comments from several actors in the Irish Rep’s first two seasons, as well as reflections by the company’s co-founders, Artistic Director Charlotte Moore and Producing Director Ciarán O’Reilly, alongside reviews of the early Irish Repertory Theatre productions by New York City theatre critics.