Feb 12, 2013 Race, class and real estate make for a predictably combustible combination in “Luck of the Irish,” a thoughtful but diffuse new play by Kirsten Greenidge that opened on Monday night at the Claire. Kyle has always relied on his golden pot-of-gold charm to bring him extraordinary luck. When he loses the charm, however, he discovers the truth about his background - he is actually part.

Kirsten Greenidge is an American playwright. Her plays are known for their realistic language and focus on social issues such as the intersectionality of race, gender, and class.

Career[edit]

Greenidge has said that she decided she wanted to be a playwright after seeing August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone at age 12.^[1] She attended Wesleyan University and the University of Iowa’s Playwright Workshop.^[2] From 2007-2009, she was part of the Huntington Theatre Company's Playwriting Fellows cohort.^[3] From 2006-2013, Greenidge was a Resident Playwright at New Dramatists in New York City^[4] She is currently an assistant professor at Boston University, teaching playwriting and mentoring undergraduate students.^[5] In 2016, Greenidge began a three-year term as the Playwright in Residence at Boston's Company One Theatre^[6] through the National Playwright Residency Program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by HowlRound.^[7][8]

Notable works[edit]

Milk Like Sugar[edit]

Milk Like Sugar is a coming of age play about 16 year old Annie who makes a pregnancy pact with her friends. As she dreams about having a baby and leading a happy life, she soon learns teen pregnancy is not all it's made to be in her head. The play opened Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on October 13, 2011 (previews) and closed on November 27, 2011. It was directed by Rebecca Taichman and starred Tonya Pinkins. The play won a 2012 Obie Awards, Playwriting and Performance, Cherise Boothe and the 2012 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Featured Actress, Tonya Pinkins.^[9][10] Greenidge was partially inspired by news stories in the summer of 2008 about the so-called 'pregnancy pact' at Gloucester High School, Massachusetts.^[11] The La Jolla Playhouse received the 2011 Round One Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards for Milk Like Sugar.^[12]

Luck of the Irish[edit]

Ryan Merriman

Luck of the Irish is about an African American family, whose house was bought by an Irish couple in the 1950s and how to the family’s dismay the deed may have never been properly transferred. The family must now find the deed, convince the couple not to take the house, or risk eviction.^[13] The play had its world premiere at the Huntington Theatre Company in March 2012.^[14][15] The play was produced Off Broadway at the Lincoln Center Claire Tow Theater from February 2013 to March 10, 2013.^[16]

Baltimore[edit]

Greenidge was commissioned the Big Ten Theatre Consortium to write this play in the spring of 2014.^[11][17] After a racial epithet was written on a student's door the entire campus is in social debate about the racial issues taking place in a very contemporary college setting. Issues such as microaggressions, 'color blindness' and social segregation are talked about in the play by an ethnically diverse cast.^[18]Baltimore was workshopped at the University of Maryland,^[17] and then produced in February 2016 at Boston University, in a co-production with New Repertory Theatre and the Boston Center for American Performance.^[19]

Critical reception[edit]

The New York Times said Luck of the Irish “feels overburdened and overwritten,”^[16] whereas the Chicago Tribune praised it as “riveting and provocative.”^[20]

References[edit]

1. ^Greenidge, Kirsten. 'Untold Stories: a Note from Playwright Kirsten Greenidge'. Huntington Theatre. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10.
2. ^'Kirsten Greenidge'. New Dramatists. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09.
3. ^'Huntington Playwriting Fellows Cohorts Huntington Theatre Company'. www.huntingtontheatre.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
4. ^'Kirsten Greenidge'. New Dramatists. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
5. ^'Kirsten Greenidge - College of Fine Arts'. www.bu.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
6. ^'Company One adds playwright-in-residence; Huntington extends Lopez - The Boston Globe'. BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
7. ^'Residencies'. HowlRound. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
8. ^'The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Announce $5.58 Million in Grants through the National Playwright Residency Program'. mellon.org. 2016-04-05. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
9. ^Milk Like SugarArchived 2018-02-11 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, retrieved September 30, 2017
10. ^'Mosaic Theater'. Mosaic Theater. Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
11. ^ ^ab'Playwright Greenidge has her finger on the pulse - The Boston Globe'. BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
12. ^Coakley, Jacob. 'TCG and Edgerton Foundation Name First Round of 2011 Award Winners'Archived 2013-08-25 at the Wayback Machine stage-directions.com, July 15, 2011
13. ^'Luck of the Irish - Noyes Cultural Arts Center - Chicago'. www.theatreinchicago.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
14. ^Collins-Hughes, Laura. 'Playwright Kirsten Greenidge weaves family history into 'Luck of the Irish'Archived 2015-07-08 at the Wayback MachineBoston Globe, March 30, 2012
15. ^'Guide' thehuntington.org, retrieved September 30, 2017
16. ^ ^abIsherwood, Charles. 'A Housing Dispute, Generations Old'Archived 2017-10-31 at the Wayback MachineThe New York Times, February 11, 2013
17. ^ ^abGilroy, Maggie (2016-02-18). 'Kirsten Greenidge Tackles College Racism in 'Baltimore''. AMERICAN THEATRE. Archived from the original on 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
18. ^'College students absorb lessons on race in 'Baltimore' - The Boston Globe'. BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
19. ^'BALTIMORE - New Repertory Theatre'. New Repertory Theatre. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
20. ^Jones, Chris. 'A different take on racial issues and real estate at Next Theatre'. chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2016-12-13.

Play Luck Of The Irish Fortune Spins