In lieu of its usual Golden Shamrock Gala, Off-Broadway’s Gingold Theatrical Group – home of the comprehensive Project Shaw and the first company ever to present performances of every one of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s 65 plays – will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year with an online open-mic Irish Poetry Slam on Wednesday, March 17.
GTG’s Founding Artistic Director David Staller noted, “Ordinarily, we’d be having our annual Golden Shamrock Gala on the 17th, but . . . nope! This shindig will take place over Zoom! Not Irish? Not a problem. On St. Pat’s, we’re ALL a little Irish. This is just a party. Not a performance. Not a fundraiser. Just a chance for us all to raise a glass and be ‘together’ . . .”
The all-star celebrants from Gingold’s extended family of artists include Robert Cuccioli, Tyne Daly, Melissa Errico, Jessica Hecht, Daniel Jenkins, Andrea Marcovicci, Tonya Pinkins, Thom Sesma, Renee Taylor, Sally Wilfert, Karen Ziemba, and more, sharing snippets of works – a poem, an excerpt, a saying, a song, or a toast – by such legendary Irish writers as Shaw, Yeats, Wilde, Joyce, Friel, Beckett, Keane, O’Brien, Johnston, Edgeworth, Heanèy, Lady Gregory, Goldsmith, and Moore.
In addition, there will be lots of virtual treats and surprises, and throughout the evening, viewers will be invited, as members of the GTG family, to join in by sharing offerings from their own Irish favorites (each under three minutes in length, so as many guests as possible can participate). But you don’t have to take the mic. If you prefer watching this “whimsical donnybrook” and adding good vibes to the room, that’s welcome, too; just BYO-something to toast!
So get your Irish on, come as you are, volunteer a short quotation or not, and raise a glass to St. Pat, GTG, and the revered tradition of Irish storytelling.
Irish Poetry Slam streams on Wednesday, March 17, 6:00-7:30 pm, on Zoom, with the Gingold Theatrical Group. The event is free, but you must register online by March 15. In the hours leading up to the stream, you’ll receive an email confirmation and a link. But because there is a limit to the amount of guests who can join via Zoom, it will also be livestreamed on the GTG Facebook page, so everyone can enjoy the celebration.
