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‘Crying Game’ actor coaches students at Queens College

‘Crying Game’ actor coaches students at Queens College
By Stephen Stirling

Academy-award nominated actor Stephen Rea will serve as an artist in residence at Queens College in October as he coaches drama students ahead of their upcoming production of the classic Irish play “The Playboy of the Western World.”

The Belfast-born Rea, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in “The Crying Game,” will visit classes and coach students ahead of the play's Oct. 16 performance, which Rea called “the greatest Irish play we have in the English language.”

Rea will also attend the opening night performance, after which he will take questions from the audience.

The production of “Playboy of the Western World” is the culmination of an interdepartmental effort at Queens College.

“Playboy of the Western World” is a three-act play that follows the story of a young man who is running away from home, claiming he killed his father. Considered the masterpiece of its author, Irish Playwright J.M. Synge, the play's controversial presentation of Irish peasant life led to riots when it was initially performed in 1907.

Over the summer, Irish studies Professor Clare Carroll and theatre Professor Susan Einhorn took 16 City University of New York students to the National University of Ireland at Galway for a study abroad course that focused on the play as well as translations by contemporary playwright Brian Friel.

Through cultural immersion, the participants — most of them Queens College drama majors — developed a deeper understanding of the texts, according to the professors.

“While in Galway, our students witnessed everything from set dancing to the cottage where Synge learned the Irish language,” said Carroll, director of the Queens College Irish Studies program. “Now they have the unprecedented opportunity to work one-on-one with Stephen Rea, one of the great Christy Mahons of all time and a founder of the Field Day Theater Company.”

“The Playboy of the Western World” will be performed at the Goldstein Theater from Oct. 16 to Oct. 26.

Tickets are $14 or $12 for seniors and Queens College students, faculty and staff. They may be purchased online at https://kupferbergcenter.org/playboy.htm or by calling the box office at 718-793-8080.

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-229-0300, ext. 138.