Set aboard an ocean liner and later in the streets of Manhattan, The Hairy Ape follows Yank, a powerful coal stoker whose sense of identity is shattered after an encounter with the wealthy daughter of the ship's owner. Alienated from the world he once believed he belonged to, Yank embarks on a desperate search for purpose, belonging, and recognition in a society divided by class and power.

The play is written by Eugene O'Neill (Long Day's Journey into Night, The Iceman Cometh, Nobel Prize in Literature) and directed by Ciarán O'Reilly, who returns to the work 20 years after Irish Repertory Theatre's acclaimed 2006 production. First staged in 1922, the play is regarded as one of O'Neill's defining expressionist works and a landmark of American theatre.

This revival marks the twentieth anniversary of Irish Repertory Theatre's earlier production and is presented on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage. The production revisits O'Neill's exploration of industrialisation, class conflict, and personal identity through its original expressionist structure and staging.