Class of 1984 playwright receives favorable review of ‘Herself’

A member of the Saint Michael’s Class of 1984 recently premiered a new play in New York City called “Herself.”

“Herself” is the brainchild of Tim McGillicuddy ’84, and is the 25^th year anniversary production of the theatre company The Drilling Company, which is also the producer of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot and Shakespeare in Bryant Park. The play premiered in late March and will run through April 20 at A.R.T’s Gural Theater.

The play, according to Broadway World, is “a comedy in which a prodigal daughter returns to the waterside town of Galway, Ireland to attend the funeral of her alcoholic brother, inherit his pub, face generations of gossip and reconcile with a charismatic parish priest.”

“In the play, a woman named Maureen, prospering in New York, must return to Galway, a coastal town in Ireland for the funeral of her brother, a tavern operator who has just died of alcoholism,” Broadway World writes. “Upon learning that she has inherited his pub, Maureen resolves to restore it as a community heartspot in defiance of the wishes of her father, a millionaire real estate developer who would like to tear it down and start over. She bucks up her spirit and accomplishes the restoration, in the face of local resentment that she deserted her place of origin and tittle-tattle about her family’s past that is complicated by her attraction to the new parish priest.”

The script took three years to write and develop, and over the past year, McGillicuddy tapped his former Saint Michael’s professor, English Professor Emeritus Nick Clary to help with writing and editing the script.

The play is already receiving some critical acclaim, including through a review by Woman Around Town. The author Alix Cohen writes, “This is the kind of play you might assume rendered by Brian Friel – not a comparison of style, but rather one of nuanced character depiction, relatable situation and solid storytelling. A satisfying work of writing and production.”