The Plough and the Stars NYC Reviews and Tickets

81%

(55 Ratings)

Positive

85%

Mixed

13%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Great staging, Great writing, Intense

About the Show

O’Casey's 1926 drama centers a young woman who fights to keep her family afloat, as Ireland stands on the brink of revolution. Get prime orchestra seats for only $55 (regularly $70) when you buy a Show-Score Select!

Nora Clitheroe tries to keep her husband Jack from the revolutionary fervor sweeping through Dublin. But Jack becomes a Commandant in the Irish Citizen Army, and when the Easter Rising of 1916 begins, he leaves a pregnant Nora to help lead the fight. The disparate, quarrelsome tenement residents are forced to shelter together as urban warfare makes their home nearly as treacherous as the streets. Passions and ideals rise and converge, but in the end, loss and devastation triumph over the promise of a new Ireland.

"The Plough and the Stars" is being presented in repertory along with the other two plays of Sean O’Casey’s "Dublin Trilogy" ("Juno and the Paycock" and "The Shadow of a Gunman") as Irish Rep’s "O’Casey Cycle."

Show-Score Member Reviews (55)

Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing, Intense

See it if The innocents of Irish tenement drink & gab first half, then in the second, the Civil Wartime toll calculated for those innocents. Maryann!

Don't see it if Varied accessible brogues of large talented cast. Uprisings are messy. Maryann Plunkett leaves the stage. Read more

Excellent ensemble effort, Wonderful writing, Great characters

See it if Great classic Irish drama, large cast, small stage, intimate feeling with lots of humor and tragedy.

Don't see it if Old-fashioned theater, in a good way but still melodramatic and heavy brogues hard to understand at times.Also a lot of politics circa 1916. Read more

Thought-provoking, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you adore great Irish theatre that is well done

Don't see it if you dislike older Irish plays and/or depressing theatre

Intense, Profound, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Classic O’Casey confronting the 1916 Easter Rebellion and its impact on the young and old Catholics and Protestants in fight for Ireland

Don't see it if Somewhat confusing performance with Irish accents would challenge your attention notwithstanding the excellence of the production

Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Funny, Delightful

See it if It is a classic and very human with a pertinent look at the Ireland of those days and its problems. Fine characterizations and direction

Don't see it if If Ireland of that era does not interest you or if you are not a Sean O'Casey fan.

Intense, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if like Sean O'Casey and want to see an excellent drama. Irish Repertory does wonderful theater and Charlotte Moore did a fantastic job.

Don't see it if you can't handle very sad doings and have trouble with the Irish accent.

Great writing, Resonant, Great acting, Entertaining, Absorbing

See it if it works well with the other 2 plays but each stands on its own. Beautiful, deeply sad explorations of everyday humans affected by violence.

Don't see it if you can't handle violence or grief onstage or want something light. the plays are v funny but v serious. The actors tend to SHOUT a bit.

Overrated, Intense, Quirky, Indulgent

See it if You are a follower or historian of Irish Drama.

Don't see it if I get it. Irish drama involves a long set-up, comic characters and then a knockout punch. This was overly long, comic characters dragged Read more

Critic Reviews (15)

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Creative team

Irish Repertory Theatre