Thirst, a play that tells the story under Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece Long Day’s Journey into Night, is running November 7–23 at Irish Classical Theatre Company. Written by Ronán Noone and directed by Kate LoConti Alcocer, the story gives voice to the lives, laughter, and longings of the workers who keep the Tyrone household running. Thought-provoking and humorous, Thirst offers a moving reflection on class, identity, and the immigrant experience.
Set in 1912 inside the seaside Connecticut home that inspired Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Thirst unfolds in the kitchen below stairs, where three servants, Bridget, the sharp-tongued Irish cook; Jack, an American chauffeur chasing the promise of a better life; and Cathleen, a young maid eager for more, grapple with love, ambition, and belonging in a world that keeps them on the margins. As the famous family upstairs battles its own demons, those downstairs struggle with hope, heartbreak, and the eternal hunger for something more.
“Thirst by Ronán Noone unfolds in tandem with Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night but follows the Irish and American domestic workers who keep the Tyrone family functioning,” said Artistic Director Keelie Sheridan. “Think the downstairs staff of Downton Abbey, centering the immigrant experience in the U.S. Though it’s set over 100 years ago, this story feels deeply relevant in our current moment.”
While new audiences will find it an excellent entry point into the world of Irish Classical Theatre, longtime subscribers can see a familiar story that they know and love in a new light. “Thirst works as an excellent counterpoint to the story of the Tyrone family,” said director Kate LoConti Alcocer, who shared that all audiences “will be charmed by familiar Irish storytelling, the immersive ICTC theatrical elements of design… and how a story told in 1912 echoes current plights of change.”
For playwright Ronán Noone, Thirst began as a search for a bridge between two worlds: Ireland and America. “I had been trying to construct [that bridge] creatively for quite a while, but I was unable to find a way to bring them together cohesively until I picked up Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” he said. Noone began developing the servants mentioned in O’Neill’s play, connecting them to his own immigrant experience. “I heard the laughter from the Tyrone boys at breakfast and then those long arias of melancholy and I wondered how the servants related to it all. I wondered what they were doing while Mary Tyrone was in the spare room. And I heard their mean quips about the Irish immigrant ‘second girl’ servant character, Cathleen, and I thought – I know her. I can write her. I can give voice to her. And arrogantly, I thought – I can redeem her from being seen as a lackey to the Tyrones.”
LoConti Alcocer knows that the story will deeply resonate with all who see it. “I hope audiences will discuss their families’ own origin stories, and how much determination, courage, and the love it takes to forage a new life. They may even find themselves chatting about an Irish play that offers traditional elements of humor and despair, but is rendered anew with the optimistic American ideal of hope. Thirst is a beautiful rumination on how change can be a very good thing… With all of this told through charismatic humor and a whole lot of heart, it is truly a universal experience.”
For Noone, the play’s emotional scope mirrors the journey of countless immigrants, then and now. “I would love the audience to delight in the rollercoaster ride of the play,” he said. “The tears. The wit. The hope. The laughter. I would love them to leave the theatre considering all their immigrant ancestors and imagine what they lived through on their way to setting down roots in America.”
Thirst runs from November 7–23 at Irish Classical Theatre Company. Tickets are available here.