Program
Spooner
“Once you see the mask slip from society then there’s no going back.”
ABOUT
Irish playwright Stewart Roche’s gripping psychological thriller, "SHARD,” had its live theatrical premiere in February 2024 with a unique engagement in Dan Conroy’s private Irish shebeen hidden in the heart of Hollywood.
The one-man “SHARD” stars the talented Irish stage and screen actor Neill Fleming (GAME OF THRONES, VIKINGS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL), for whom Roche penned the role. In the play, a man flees the city and the mistakes of his past for a new beginning in an idyllic island commune—but the price of escape is higher than he could have imagined.
Fleming’s initial virtual performance of SHARD during the height of the pandemic stunned BBC producers, who adapted it for BBC Radio and broadcast it in 2023 to major acclaim. Fleming will performed SHARD live for the first time ever in a uniquely captivating setting: a private shebeen in Hollywood that uncannily recreates the legendary speakeasies that appeared in the Irish countryside as early as the 18th century.
Under the expert direction of Alan Smyth, "SHARD" premiered February 2024 and is presented May 2024 during Ireland Week LA. The play is presented in association with the Contemporary Irish Art Center, Los Angeles (CIACLA).
Run time is 60 minutes
THANK YOU for supporting independent theater in Los Angeles. Special Thanks to:
Stewart Roche, The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Beth Johnson, Michael Wong, Elizabeth Barnes Keener, Fredrik Lidskog, Stephen Boykewich, Rob Nagle, Dan Conroy (and The Pub!), Hesh Hipp, Damian Hanlon & Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, Matthew Nevin & the fine folks at CIACLA for their extraordinary support, expertise and talent.
Neill Fleming
Spooner
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Neill Fleming spent his first five years living with his amazing mother, grandparents, and seven aunts and uncles. His mother met — and went on to marry — a wonderful Bostonian man and moved the family to the US in 1982. Thus began a life of ocean-hopping across the Atlantic (Maine to Donegal, back to Massachusetts, to Dublin, to NYC, Dublin again and now Los Angeles), giving Neill a very keen ear for accents and a chameleon-like ability for character acting.
Fleming trained extensively in voice and the works of his first love: Shakespeare. During his first forays into Shakespeare with Classic Stage Ireland run by Andy Hinds (RADA, The Globe) in Julius Caesar, and while performing in Macbeth, Fleming became hooked. He studied extensively with Darragh O'Brian of the RSC in soliloquy and scene work. Playing Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet twice, Macbeth again, Old Hamlet/King Claudius in Hamlet, Orsino in Twelfth Night, and Gloucester in King Lear.
Neill has a natural affinity and grá for Irish writers — playing Kilby in Mark O'Rowe's Made in China to critical acclaim, Jack in The Importance of being Earnest and Lord Windermere in Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde. One of the highlights of his life was to play Vladimir in Waiting for Godot in the School of the Arts theatre, Singapore at six months sober.
Other highlights include the musical Who by Fire featuring Leonard Cohen's music in a cavern beneath Rock of Gibraltar, touring Ireland and then the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Carlo Goldoni's La Locandiera.
Neill is a founder member of a co-operative theatre company The Corps Ensemble, and has worked with world renowned Mouth on Fire theatre company on several productions, most notably All that Fall by Samuel Beckett, performed to a blindfolded audience that included President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin.
A versatile artist and renaissance man, Fleming pursued his love of drawing and animation graduating from the Ballyfermot College's animation programme in Dublin. He has worked as an artist for publishing companies in Manhattan, as an animator for Vivendi Universal Games, as a bike messenger, chef and fine artist. He is a dog lover, marathoner, and yoga teacher.
Neill holds dual US and Irish citizenship and is based in Los Angeles.
Stewart Roche
Playwright
Stewart’s play ‘Curious Tales for Christmas’ had its world premiere at Theatre Upstairs in December 2012. His adaptation of Stoker’s short story ‘The Judge’s House’ ran in Bewley’s Cafe Theatre in 2013. His first original full length play ‘Revenant’ had its world premiere in the New Theatre in November 2013 and was nominated for the Stewart Parker Award. It was revived in 2023 and won Best Production at the Buxton Fringe Festival. In August 2018 ‘The Fetch Wilson’ premiered at the Pleasance during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This was followed in October 2018 when ‘Wringer’ was produced by Bewley’s Café Theatre. Other plays include ‘Variance’, ‘Tracer’, ‘Snake Eaters’ and a co-adaptation of ‘Lost Hearts’ with Michael James Ford. Recently his play ‘The Twenty Club’ had a staged reading as part of the Carlow Arts Festival in June 2021 and received a full production at Glass Mask Theatre in September 2022. It was revived at Bewley’s Café Theatre in May 2023. His latest play ‘A Christmas Visit’ premiered at the Viking Theatre in November 2023.
Film work includes ‘Bittern’ and ‘Where Still Waters Lie’, which has played in over 30 festivals around the world. It won Best Foreign Short at the Monsterflix Awards, Best Drama at the Indie for you Festival and Best Horror Short at the Five Continents Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Oz Indie Film Festival and the U- Horror film awards. His first radio play ‘Hunter’ premiered on Dublin City FM in October 2020. His new radio play ‘Shard’ was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and broadcast in July 2023.
Alan Smyth
Director
Alan is an actor, writer and director. He was born and raised in Dundalk, Ireland before moving to Dublin to train as an actor. He has performed in every major theatre in Ireland, and then further afield at The Opera House, Cairo; Lincoln Centre, New York; and The Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Favourite roles include Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Edmund in King Lear and Horatio in Hamlet.
As producer, credits include the Irish Premieres of The Real Thing; Burn This; and Dinner with Friends.
He is best known in Ireland as the country’s first gay soap character, Eoghan Healy, in Fair City, a role he played for five years.
He moved to the USA in 2007. Since then he has guested/recurred on many TV shows including: CSI:NY, NCIS, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, The Middleman, Persons Unknown, Leverage, Grimm, Caper, Children’s Hospital, The Bold & the Beautiful, The Last Ship, Dice, Castle, and Better Things.
His feature film work in the US includes The Fallen Faithful; Poor Behavior (written and directed by Theresa Rebeck); The Outfield; The Ulysses Project; and Under My Skin, which is currently playing the festival circuit.
Theatre in LA includes Absurd Person Singular and Zealot at South Coast Rep; Poor Beast in the Rain at The Matrix. He a company member of Bepoke Plays, a writer-based theatre company, promoting new playwriting via staged readings every month.
Alan has also been a proud member of InHouse for several years, with whom he played Dermot in Port Authority (which he also co-directed).
Elizabeth Boykewich
Producer
Elizabeth Boykewich has an illustrious career as a casting maven and now producer of tv, theater and film. Having held the role of Senior Vice President of Casting & Talent at the Disney company for nearly two decades, Boykewich played an integral role in the launch and definition of two distinct television brands. Her keen understanding of the millennial and Gen-Z audience positioned her as a tastemaker, uncovering emerging talent that shapes cultural conversations and becomes the stars of tomorrow.
During her tenure, Boykewich was a driving force behind Freeform's ascent to the pinnacle of inclusivity, making it the most diverse cable television network during its prime. Her passion for the holistic development of homegrown celebrities is evident, and she has been at the forefront of the network's on-screen diversity and inclusion efforts since the inception of her tenure.
Overseeing multiple award-winning series, Boykewich has been directly involved in more than 400 projects, handling all aspects of talent deals, including integration, advertising, multiplatform content, and synergy efforts across the network and studio. Her dedication to developing and nurturing the careers of rising stars and casting diverse voices has earned her talent critical acclaim and a plethora of awards, including the Teen Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards, NAACP, GLAAD, Imagen, Saturn Awards, and Television Critics Association Awards.
Elizabeth Boykewich embarked on her casting journey at the prestigious Circle Repertory Theater Company, ascending from a casting intern to the role of casting director. Transitioning into film and television work in New York City, she swiftly earned a reputation as the go-to person for talent searches. Her nationwide talent searches for lead roles in studio features propelled stars into the national limelight.
A member of the Casting Society of America, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences & Women in Film , Boykewich holds a master's degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts from Ohio University.
Most recently Boykewich cast "Cooper's Bar" for AMC+ and serves as a producer on the upcoming "Ownership" for LaGraLane Productions.
Amelia Anello
Sound Designer
Amelia Anello is a recent graduate from the USC School of Dramatic Arts’ Sound Design program. She works as a sound designer, engineer, and mixer for theater, film, and themed entertainment.
Theater credits include Chavez Ravine, Pippin, Urinetown, and The Winter’s Tale at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Her themed entertainment credits include the interactive environmental justice museum exhibit Sacrifice Zone: Los Angeles in January of 2024. She is an alumni of the Television Academy Foundation Internship Program in their sound category, and is incredibly excited to be working on this project for Ireland Week!!
Dan Conroy
Publican
Dan and The Pub have played host to theatrical, cinematic and musical productions for nearly 20 years.
He began his professional acting career in New York where he worked with the likes of Tommy Tune, Terry Gilliam and legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
Moving to Los Angeles created opportunities in writing, producing and directing.
Further artistic expression came in the forming of musical groups Clann na Gael and Slugger OToole, wherein he performed as lead singer.
Additionally, Dan was instrumental in establishing and playing in traditional music sessions at various pubs in the south land.
The ongoing session in The Pub will celebrates 18 years in July.
He’s honored to be hosting the world premier of SHARD.
Hesh Hipp
Photographer / Media Designer
Hesh Hipp is an award winning photography artist based in the Port of Los Angeles. The hard working industrial and artistic neighborhood of San Pedro influences his work and creativity but also reminds him of the hard working industrial and artistic neighborhood of Fort Point, Boston, where his career started. Born in California but raised in New England, Hesh has previously worked as a college art professor, a hollywood lighting and digital technician, and graphic designer - he was also a terrible DJ, a mediocre tattoo artist, and a rather talented carnie line cook..
His work has been shown in galleries and publications across the US and Europe. He has also been commissioned by companies such as Gatorade, Amazon, The Glenlivet, 3M, and others. When not on the road, Hesh can usually be found either playing on his old trawler in Watchorn Basin or working in his studio on Mesa Street.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub
Ireland Week Host
Molly Malone's has been owned and operated by the same Irish family for 50 years. Walking in, you'd think a Dublin Pub had been miraculously transported to Los Angeles. This local institution has been featured in such movies as Leaving Las Vegas, Patriot Games, and Life Without Dick, and has a long standing tradition of showcasing the finest musical talent in the Los Angeles area.
The walls of the pub are covered by over 70 paintings by noted Irish portrait painter Neil Boyle. These portraits depict both notable Irish figures and longtime MollyMalone's patrons and staff.
Rachel Rath
Stage Manager
Rachel is founding partner of production company 12pt Pictures with Kevin Marron.
She built www.greencard.guide for artists and business people aiming to qualify for the extraordinary ability US visas.
She has an artist friendly guide on moving to Los Angeles as part of Actors ebooks available here. DOWNLOAD This ebook came about from her move to USA and the need for a practical step by step guide.
Rachel is honoured to be a board member of CIACLA – Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles www.ciacla.com
She has been involved with the Los Angeles Irish arts community since 2009 and was awarded City of Los Angeles Irish Honoree 2019.
Rachel works regularly with the British Film Commission, Pinewood Studios, and recently with the AFCI (Association of Film Commissioners International) for whom she organized the 43rd Cineposium in St Petersburg, Russia. She also set up their online Community giving the Commissions an online forum to communicate and share during the pandemic.
Rachel is Associate Producer of Irish Screen America, Los Angeles and New York, screening films made in Ireland www.IrishScreenAmerica.com
In Dublin 2003, Rachel founded The Attic Studio a support network for dedicated film and theatre practitioners. Rachel set up the studio to promote the feeling of community within the theatre and film industries and to facilitate dialogue between artists. The studio had approximately 1500 active members in 2009 when she stepped down to come to Los Angeles.
Rachel served on the Women in Film International Committee in Los Angeles.
Rachel served on the Irish Equity Actors Council and Executive Council from 2003 for four years helping to re-vitalizing the working of the office and perception of the union, write and compile the Irish Equity Handbook and populated the Irish Equity website. She was part of decision making on a national level on behalf of the acting fraternity. www.irishequity.ie
For fun, Rachel loves star gazing, gold panning, reading medical studies, old books and smelling random flowers.
CIACLA
CIACLA is a non profit 501(c)(3) arts organization that promotes Contemporary Irish Culture and supports local communities in Los Angeles through a multidisciplinary diverse programme in collaboration with local and international cultural partnerships. CIACLA currently partners with existing venues to facilitate this program and is focused on developing a creative platform to support and challenge artists as a means of promoting creative innovation and collaborative initiatives, fostering collaboration between Ireland, Los Angeles, and the United States.
The journey of CIACLA began in 2011 when Matthew Nevin and Ciara Scanlan of MART Gallery & Studios Dublin started curating exhibitions and events in Los Angeles. With Matthew's experience in the creative industries in LA since 2005 and Ciara's co-founding of MART in 2007, they embarked on a mission to launch CIACLA by producing annual exhibitions in the city, starting with the "Invite or Reject" exhibition as part of the government of Ireland's "Imagine Ireland'' initiative in 2011, supported by Culture Ireland. Over the next few years the pair curated annual exhibitions promoting Irish and American artists while collaborating with local galleries such as Hive, LACE, C4, CB1, DAC, and
Arena 1. In 2018, they created a pop-up gallery on Hollywood Boulevard as part of IrelandWeek, all while building a strong community of artists, creatives, Irish immigrants, and an audience eager to connect with contemporary Irish culture.
In 2019, following eight years of successful exhibitions and events, the pair, along with Director of Development Jennifer Minniti Shippey, founded CIACLA as a California-based non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization with a goal to promote contemporary Irish culture. With the help of Jenn McGuirk and a fantastic team of volunteers and cultural advisors, they put together an exciting multidisciplinary summer of events at a pop-up gallery in Bergamot Station, Santa Monica.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020-2021, CIACLA thrived online, providing artists with a platform to engage with their audience, and in 2022, they returned to in-person programming, partnering with local venues to support the growth and flourishing of theater, music, literature, and all the arts.
CIACLA's thriving programming sets the foundation for its ultimate goal of establishing a flagship Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles, while continuously striving for excellence and innovation in presenting contemporary Irish arts and culture in LA.
To learn more about our programming please visit our website and scroll through our current and previous program.