In the suburbs of Dublin, a long-absent son returns home to visit his ailing mother. But his reappearance—and the welcome he receives—ignites his sisters’ long-simmering resentments and sets the siblings on a collision course over his criminal past. Riveting and insightful, Moment considers the slippery nature of memory and forgiveness, and how the consequences of one tragic decision can ripple through an entire family. Directed by Helen Hayes-and Tony-nominated director Ethan McSweeny in his Studio debut.
Runtime: 2 hours with no intermission.
Moment is generously underwritten
by Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber.
Deirdre Kinahan is actively involved in the Irish theatre sector both as playwright and producer. She was a founding member and Artistic Director of Tall Tales Theatre Company for 15 years and now sits on the Abbey Board (Ireland’s National Theatre) and on the advisory committee for the Stewart Parker Trust, whose mission is to encourage new writing for the stage. Her work is translated into many languages and produced regularly both in Ireland and internationally. In 2016, Ms. Kinahan’s plays will be produced in Chicago, New York, Washington, London, Warsaw, and Ireland. She is published by Nick Hern Books.
Moment debuted at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin before playing at the Bush Theatre in London to critical acclaim and sold-out audiences in 2011. Other plays include Spinning, These Halcyon Days, Bogboy, Hue & Cry, Melody, Maisy Daly’s Rainbow; her work has been presented at The Royal Court, Fishamble Theatre, Abbey Theatre, Civic Theatre, Project Arts Centre, Tall Tales, and Livin Dred in Ireland.
Ms. Kinahan’s latest play Wild Sky, commissioned by Meath County Council Arts Office, is written in commemoration of events leading up to the 1916 Irish Rising and will premiere in Spring 2016 at various venues in Ireland, Europe, and the United States.
Ms. Kinahan is currently under commission to The Old Vic Theatre (London), Manhattan Theatre Club (New York), and Fishamble Theatre Company (Ireland), with numerous other theatre projects in development. She is co-writing her first feature film with the support of the The Irish Film Board and has another feature in development with Blinder Films in Dublin. Her radio credits include Bogboy (RTÉ) and A Bag on Ballyfinch Place (BBC).
Ms. Kinahan has received numerous playwriting awards, including a Fringe First for These Halcyon Days in 2013 and the Tony Doyle Bursary with BBC Northern Ireland in 2009. She is the recipient of the Jim McNaughton Tilestyle Artist’s Bursary (2013), Peggy Ramsay Award (2014), and an Arts Council of Ireland Commission Award (2015).
Ethan McSweeny makes his Studio debut with Moment, some thirty-five years after he first attended performances here as an audience member. Washington audiences know his work from productions at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Major Barbara, Ion, and The Persians), the Broadway-bound premiere of A Time to Kill at Arena Stage, the recent opera premiere Better Gods at WNO, and his debut production of Never the Sinner at Signature in 1993. Now based in Brooklyn, his work in New York includes premieres by Kate Fodor (100 Saints, Rx), Jason Grote (1001), Thomas Bradshaw (Fulfillment), John Logan (Sinner — Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), as well as the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards). His international work includes two seasons at the Stratford Festival, Canada and three productions for the Gate Theatre, Dublin including the Irish Times Award winning A Streetcar Named Desire. Later this spring he will tour his Midsummer to open the Macao Arts Festival in China. Nationally, he had directed more than seventy productions of premieres, classics, and musicals on many of the country’s preeminent stages including The Guthrie, Goodman Theatre, The Old Globe, The Alley, The Denver Center, South Coast Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Center Stage, and Pittsburgh Public, among many others. He has served as Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Theatre Company from 2004 – 2011, Associate Director of the National Actors Theatre, Resident Director at New Dramatists, Associate Artistic Director of the George Street Playhouse, and is currently a trustee of SDC, the national labor union representing directors and choreographers. A native of the city of Washington, Mr. McSweeny received the first degree in Theatre ever conferred by Columbia University.
(As of March 2016)
Dearbhla Molloy has worked frequently on Broadway and London’s West End, as well as with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain. She was last seen in Washington DC in The Cripple of Inishmaan at The Kennedy Center. Ms. Molloy has appeared at all the major regional theatres in England, the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the Michael Douglas and Geffen Theaters in Los Angeles, and ART in Boston. She is an Associate Artist of Ireland’s Abbey Theatre. She received a Tony Award nomination for Dancing at Lughnasa on Broadway. She is also the recipient of two Drama Desk Awards, a Theatre World Special Award, a London Critics Award, two Irish Theatre Awards, and an Audie Award. Her nominations include a Royal Television Society Award, Independent Film and Television Award, Irish Theatre Award, and a Grammy Award. Her film and television appearances include playing the Queen in the opening episode of season 5 of Scandal.
(As of March 2016)
Emily Landham makes her Studio Theatre debut in Moment. Recent credits include Rosalind in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Perdita in The Winter’s Tale at Nashville Shakespeare Festival; Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker and Shelby in Steel Magnolias at Studio Tenn; Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest and Annie in All My Sons at Nashville Rep; Julie in Christmas is Miles Away at Babel Theatre Project; and as an understudy for Slippy Helen in The Cripple of Inishmaan at Atlantic Theatre Company. Some of her film, television, and commercial credits include: Desolation, Chasing Ghosts, Closer to God, Season of Miracles, Still the King, Tempo, The Game, Toyota, Zaxby’s, Captain D’s, State Farm, and Dollar General. Ms. Landham is an NYU Tisch School of the Arts honors graduate and a member of the Wynn Handman Studio. She resides in Nashville, TN and is the co-founder of the social enterprise BRANDED Collective.
(As of March 2016)
Peter Albrink's New York credits include These Seven Sicknesses directed by Ed Iskandar. Regional credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by David Cromer; Curse of the Starving Class, directed by Gordon Edelstein; Sam Hunter’s When You’re Here; Finding Robert Hutchens; and Papermaker. His TV credits are Gotham, Orange Is The New Black directed by Jodie Foster, Limitless, Elementary, and Unforgettable. His film credits include The Heart Machine, Game Lands, and The Gamble. Mr. Albrink attended Carnegie Mellon University before moving to New York City.
(As of March 2016)
Hannah Yelland makes her Studio Theatre debut. Her recent DC credits include Hermione in The Winter’s Tale and Laura Jesson in Kneehigh Theatre Company’s visiting production of Brief Encounter at Shakespeare Theatre Company (Helen Hayes Award for Best Visiting Production 2015). Ms. Yelland originated the role of Laura in Brief Encounter on Broadway, for which she received a 2011 Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Play. She also toured this production to ACT, San Francisco; St Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn; The Guthrie, Minneapolis; and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles. Other theatre credits include Rachel in My Cousin Rachel at the Gate Theatre, Dublin; and Spoleto Festival 2014; Nora in A Doll’s House at the Abbey Theatre; Kate Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby in the West End/Chichester/Toronto; and Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren’s Profession directed by Sir Peter Hall. Film/TV credits include AKA, The Secret, Dalziel & Pascoe, Ultimate Force, Dinotopia (Hallmark), and Poirot; Lord Edgware Dies.
(As of March 2016)
Caroline Bootle Pendergast returns to Studio Theatre for Moment, having previously appeared in Rock ‘n’ Roll and The Real Thing. Other DC credits include Love’s Labour’s Lost and Richard III with Shakespeare Theatre Company. She has performed on Broadway in Proof with Mary-Louise Parker and Neil Patrick Harris and in King Lear with Christopher Plummer. Regional work includes As You Like It with the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Richard II at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and three seasons at The Heritage Repertory Theatre of Charlottesville, VA. Among Ms. Pendergast’s television credits are All My Children and Guiding Light. She holds degrees from The University of Virginia and The Juilliard School. A DC-area resident, she has taught acting at Imagination Stage and The Aidan Montessori School.
(As of March 2016)
Ciaran Byrne is a Company Member of New York City’s Irish Repertory Theatre, and an Artist in Residence at The Cell: A Twenty First Century Salon. Mr. Byrne’s Off Broadway work includes Juno And The Paycock and The Freedom Of The City at Irish Rep and Blood with The Cell. Regionally, his appearances include Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme at PICT Classic Theatre and The Night Alive with City Theatre. Mr. Byrne’s film and television work includes Trifles for a Massacre selected for 2015 Festival de Cannes; In Between Men, screened at the New York Television Festival; and TNT’s Public Morals, produced by Edward Burns and Steven Spielberg.
(As of March 2016)
Avery Clark returns to Studio after appearing in Moment and Hedda Gabler last season. Locally he has performed in Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare Theatre Company. New York and regional credits include Romeo & Juliet, Cymbeline, and The Count of Monte Cristo at Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Arcadia and the original cast of Coronado (written by Dennis Lehane, Invisible City); The Pillowman at APAC; A Christmas Carol at Cincinnati Playhouse; Hamlet, Henry V, and The 39 Steps at Arkansas Repertory Theatre; Journey’s End at Alley Theatre; The Heidi Chronicles at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Three Days of Rain at Oldcastle Theatre Company; and The Shape of Things at Premiere Stages. Television credits include Guiding Light on CBS and American Genius on National Geographic.
(As of October 2016)
Mira Cohen makes her professional acting debut at Studio Theatre in Moment. Recent acting credits include ensemble in Legally Blonde Jr. at Adventure Theatre MTC and Ursula in The Christmas Revels. Singing credits include Children’s Chorus for Wammie-winning Washington Revels 30 Year Anniversary CD, solo performance at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, and solo National Anthem singer at Girls on The Run. Ms. Cohen has been studying ballet for 8 years and plays the piano. She is in her third year of Adventure Theatre MTC’s pre-professional program and is in her first year of middle school.
(As of March 2016)
Debra Booth is Director of Design at Studio Theatre, where she has designed If I Forget, Translations, The Wolves, The Father, The Hard Problem, Moment, Constellations, The Apple Family Cycle, Jumpers for Goalposts, Belleville, Cock, Edgar & Annabel, Bachelorette, Moonlight, Blackbird, My Children! My Africa!, The Pillowman, and many others. Her international work includes premiere opera Marco Polo (Tan Dun/Martha Clarke) in Munich, Hong Kong, and New York. Regionally, Debra’s credits include Small Mouth Sounds at Round House Theatre; Richard III, The Collection, and The Lover at the Shakespeare Theatre Company; Marisol at Hartford Stage and The Public Theatre; Trying, The Illusion, and Happy Days at Portland Stage Company; the New York premiere of Angels in America at The Juilliard School; Broken Glass at Philadelphia Theatre Company (Barrymore Award nomination); and Moon for the Misbegotten at Yale Repertory Theatre. Debra is the recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant, and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
(As of October 2019)
Philip Witcomb is a British set and costume designer based in New York. After studying Theatre Design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and The Slade School of Fine Art, Mr. Witcomb started his design career at the acclaimed Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. Subsequently, he has designed over 70 productions on both sides of the Atlantic, from intimate studio shows to main house stages and from commercial multi-venue tours to large open-air productions. His work has been nominated for multiple Best Design awards in both the UK and the US, and he was one of twelve finalists selected for The Linbury Prize, the United Kingdom’s most prestigious award for stage design, culminating in an exhibition of his work at the Royal National Theatre in London.
(As of March 2016)
Scott Bolman's recent credits include MIDNIGHT at RADIALSYSTEM V in Berlin, Fortuna Desperata at Performa 2015, a revival of Song from the Uproar with L.A. Opera at REDcat, The Chandelier for Celebrity Cruise Lines, A Wonderful Life at Goodspeed Opera, piece.piece at Gibney Dance Studios, Intimate Apparel at Chautauqua Theater Company, The Box with the Foundry Theater, and Urban Renewal at FIAF and La Cité International in Paris. Mr. Bolman also works as a collaborative lighting designer with Robert Wilson. Past projects include Zinnias at Peak Performances, Odyssey at the National Theater of Greece, and KOOL at the Guggenheim Museum. Upcoming collaborations include Der Sandman at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and Paola Prestini's new opera Two Oars at Australia's Bleach* Festival. Mr. Bolman is a founding member of Wingspace Design Collective, where he serves as the producer of their Salon Series and is a co-creator of their Professional Mentorship Program.
Palmer Hefferan returns to Studio Theatre after previously designing Moment, Sorry, Regular Singing, Bad Jews, and Edgar & Annabel. Other select DC credits include Baby Screams Miracle (Helen Hayes nomination), Guards at the Taj (Helen Hayes nomination), Women Laughing Alone With Salad, and Cherokee at Woolly Mammoth; Urinetown, Equus (Helen Hayes nomination), Absolutely! {Perhaps}, and 36 Views at Constellation Theatre Company; and Everything Is Illuminated, The Call, and Yentl at Theater J. Select Off Broadway credits include Charm and School Girls at MCC; Orange Julius (Henry Hewes nomination) at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; The Death of the Last Black Man… at Signature Theatre; Friend Art at Second Stage; Samara and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (Henry Hewes nomination) at Soho Rep; and Important Hats of the Twentieth Century at Manhattan Theatre Club. Select regional credits include Henry V and Henry IV, Part One at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Romance Novels for Dummies at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Tiger Style! at Alliance Theatre and Huntington Theatre, peerless at Marin Theatre Company, Twelfth Night at Baltimore Center Stage. She has her MFA from Yale School of Drama.
(As of March 2018)
Lauren Halvorsen is in her ninth season as Studio’s Associate Literary Director. Her dramaturgy credits here include Doubt, P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, Admissions, Kings, If I Forget, Vietgone, The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, The Father, Three Sisters, The Hard Problem, Hand to God, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, The Wolfe Twins, Belleville, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Real Thing, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Aliens, Bachelorette, The Big Meal, and Time Stands Still. Previously, Lauren spent three seasons as Literary Manager of The Alley Theatre. She was the Artistic Associate of the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory for six years and has worked in various artistic capacities for The Kennedy Center, City Theatre Company, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, First Person Arts Festival, and The Wilma Theater. Lauren is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.
(As of December 2019)
Anthony O. Bullock returns to Studio Theatre after previously being the Resident Stage Manager for two seasons. Prior Studio credits include The Hard Problem, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, Jumpers for Goalposts, and Laugh. Additional DC area credits include Signature Theatre, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, and Theater J, where he will be their new Resident Stage Manager for the 2019-2020 season. Other regional credits include McCarter Theatre Center, Barrington Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Passage Theatre, and Shakespeare & Company, among others. He toured with The White Snake by Mary Zimmerman in association with the Goodman Theatre, as part of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China. Anthony received his BFA from Oklahoma City University. He is also on the board of The Stage Managers’ Association as the Eastern Regional Director. He is a proud member of AEA.
(As of April 2019)
Gary Logan‘s work for Studio Theatre includes dialects for Moment, Jumpers for Goalposts, The Wolfe Twins, Tribes, Belleville, The Real Thing, Venus in Fur, Frozen, and Crestfall. Internationally, he was the voice and text coach for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Tantalus, and for several seasons was a voice and dialect coach for the Stratford Festival of Canada. Regionally, his work includes Lights Rise on Grace and Marie Antoinette at Woolly Mammoth; Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill (with Christine Lahti) and Tender Napalm at Signature Theatre; Master Class (with Tyne Daly) at The Kennedy Center; Shenandoah (with Scott Bakula) at Ford’s Theatre; The Beaux’ Stratagem, Private Lives, and August: Osage County at Everyman Theatre; Love in Afghanistan at Arena Stage; Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing at Folger Theatre; and Othello, The Tempest, and Design for Living for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Mr. Logan is a recipient of The Tyrone Guthrie Award and is the author of The Eloquent Shakespeare (University of Chicago Press).
(As of March 2016)
