The Irish Heritage Theatre is a group of dedicated Philadelphia theatre professionals who have resolved to present and preserve the heritage of the Irish people as it is recorded in the theatre they created during the 20th Century, from the revolutionary theatre in Ireland, to the American music halls of Harrigan and Hart and George M. Cohan, to the renewal of theatre at the end of the 20th century.
We are determined to re-present the quarrels, the dancing thoughts, the emotions, the aspirations and frustrations of a people in continual, restless transition. The turmoil of the city slums and the quiescence of the bucolic countryside are all part a nation and a people entangled in constant struggle. Their stories are filled with minds and hearts longing for peace and resolution. But always the genius of their storytelling is full of fun, full of a unique way of seeing the trouble and the humanity beyond it. Their laughter is a permanent way of hope in spite of it all or all of it. We are a theatre that will challenge you to laughter, provoke you to thought, and invite you to tears.
Join us.
The IHT Honorary Board Members include:
Bruce Graham, playwright;
Kevin Kerrane, Professor of Irish Studies, The University of Delaware;
Tom McCarthy, actor;
Maura O'Sullivan, Abbey Theatre actress;
Tom Reing, Artistic Director, Inis Nua Theatre
and Enid Reid Whyte, Irish theatre dramaturg.
Board of Directors: John Cannon [Treasurer], Kristen Quinn [Secretary], Kate Danaher, Ari Banks, Armen Pandola, and John Gallagher [President]. The board has two lawyers, a law school professor, a college professor, an actress, an Irish storyteller and an Irish fiddle player. All told there is over one hundred and fifty years theatre experience on the Board.
