It’s hard to believe that as little or as much as 30 years ago, there was no Toronto Irish Players, given how important it’s become to the Irish community and the theatre community and the band of friends and family that the Players have become in that time. It all began with an idea that Jerry Kenny put forward to 21 people gathered in the old Landsdowne Avenue premises of the Irish Immigrant Aid Society on March 18, 1975 – to give Irish actors the opportunity to present the riches of their culture. Two abridged versions of classic Irish dramas were mounted for Caravan, with such success that the group formalized as the Toronto Irish Players. Since then, the group has produced over 60 plays.

The membership originally consisted solely of first generation Irish emigrants but has expanded to second and third generations, as well as Canadians of diverse backgrounds. Our audiences experience plays not generally seen on the community or regional theatre circuit: plays like Translations (Brian Friel); Brown Bread Sandwiches (Tom Murphy); Shadow of a Gunman (Sean O’Casey); Sive (J.B. Keane); The Quare Fella (Brendan Behan), Same Old Moon (Geraldine Aron), The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Mai (Marina Carr) and James Joyce’s The Dead. In recent years, an Irish classic has been married to a work from a contemporary playwright each year, so we move with the times. The work onstage is fired by the passion, the creative conflict, the outsize characters and the great craic this group has offstage.

The 30th season will see ventures that speak to TIP’s history and its future. The first production of the season will be Sean O’Casey’s classic tragedy, The Plough and the Stars, which will mark TIP’s second production of this classic. The second show of the season will be a contemporary comedy, a perfect balance. And in May of 2006, to close the season, TIP will host the Acting Irish International Theatre Festival, bringing nine Irish plays before its audience over five days in a bravura display of the Irish canon that cannot be seen anywhere else this year, enhanced by knowledgeable adjudications, passionate discussions and the odd jar!