Origin Theatre’s 1st Irish Awards

The crowd-pleasing rugby play Alone It Stands scored Best Production at the 2019 Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival’s closing night festivities at the Manhattan Club at Rosie O’Grady’s in Times Square on January 28. Two critically acclaimed productions imported from Ireland – On Blueberry Hill and The Morning After the Life Before also had big wins, with On Blueberry Hill earning Best Actor for Niall Buggy and Best Design; and The Morning After winning Best Actress for Lucia Smyth, and Best Director for Paul Meade. Winning Best Playwright was the locally based, Galway-born playwright Ronan Noone for his gripping and gritty one-hander in verse called The Smuggler. The festival’s Special Jury Prize went to Sole Purpose Productions, the Derry, Northern Ireland, producer of Blinkered, for its mission to bring difficult social topics into non-traditional theatre settings. Fionnula Flanagan, currently on Broadway in The Ferryman, was honored with a Special Lifetime Achievement Award given by Origin Theatre Company, the producer of the festival. ♦ Maggie Holland