Lia Chang: Jarlath Conroy Leads Cast of Pinter’s The Homecoming at Centerstage in Baltimore

Jarlath Conroy Photo by Lia Chang

Harold Pinter’s darkly comedic family drama, The Homecoming, helmed by Irene Lewis, CENTERSTAGE’s Artistic Director, kicks off previews on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, in The Pearlstone Theater at CENTERSTAGE, 700 North Calvert St., Baltimore, Maryland. Opening night is Wednesday, February 2, and the show runs through Sunday, February 20. Tickets are $10-$55, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 410.332.0033 or by at www.centerstage.org.

Broadway and film veteran Jarlath Conroy leads the cast in the role of Max, the family patriarch. Steven Epps, who has appeared Off Broadway and across the country from Theatre de la Jeune Lune to the Guthrie portrays the prodigal son, Teddy. Accompanying him as the mysterious and sensual woman at the center of the family drama, Felicity Jones returns to Baltimore, last seen at CENTERSTAGE in the 2008-09 production of ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Trent Dawson, a day-time television staple for many years as Henry Coleman in “As the World Turns”, returns to CENTERSTAGE after previously performing in several productions, including Misalliance and Lady Windermere’s Fan. Rounding out the cast are CENTERSTAGE Associate Artist Laurence O’Dwyer as Sam, the live-in uncle, and CENTERSTAGE newcomer Sebastian Naskaris as youngest brother Joey.

Jarlath Conroy and Felicity Jones in CENTERSTAGE’s production of The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, Directed by Irene Lewis. Photo by Richard Anderson

The production team for The Homecoming includes Tony Award winning costume designer, Catherine Zuber, scenic designer Riccardo Hernández, sound designer David Budries and lighting designer Matthew McCullough.

The last weekend of November, I had a double feature of Jarlath Conroy, first at an advance screening of the Oscar nominated “True Grit”, directed by The Coen Brothers, in which he plays the grim undertaker opposite Hailee Steinfeld’s Mattie Ross, and then onstage in the Off-Broadway run of Nick Jones’s The Coward, at The Duke, the latest production from Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT3 program. The award winning actor’s nuanced portrayals of four different characters prompted Charles Isherwood of The New York Times to write, “Perhaps best of all is Jarlath Conroy, who looks (and acts) as if he has just sprung from a Hogarth etching, in roles ranging from a doddering old man who inadvertently offends Lucidus, setting the plot in motion, to a loyal servant whose poker face belies a sympathetic heart.”

Jarlath Conroy, Felicity Jones, and Sebastian Naskaris in CENTERSTAGE’s production of The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, Directed by Irene Lewis. Photo by Richard Anderson

Conroy previously appeared at CENTERSTAGE in The Triumph of Love. His work on Broadway includes The Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas, The Weir, The Iceman Cometh, On The Waterfront, Ghetto, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, The Visit, Comedians. Off-Broadway: The Coward, Finn, A Man of No Importance, Our Lady of Sligo, A Life, Gardenia, Translations, The Matchmaker. His regional credits include Catchpenny Twist (directed by Irene Lewis), The Steward of Christendom (Barrymore Award), Juno and the Paycock (Helen Hayes Award, Henry V (Helen Hayes Award nomination), Faith Healer, Twelfth Night, Ah, Wilderness!, Inherit the Wind, A Christmas Carol. Internationally, he has appeared in Royal Court, Cromwell and Hamlet. Film and television audiences may be familiar with Conroy from his work in “Day of the Dead”, “Across the Universe”, “Kinsey”, “Stay”, “Day of the Dead”, “Heaven’s Gate”, “Law & Order”, “NYPD Blue”, “Summer”, “A Marriage”,”O’Keeffe and Stieglitz”. The Indie film “Homework”, currently in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, has been picked up by Fox Searchlight Films and will be released this summer. His directing credits include True West and Human Resources.

After seeing Conroy in The Coward, we popped into Un Deux Trois for a quick bite and to chat about his experience of working with The Coen Brothers on “True Grit”. Check back for my interview with him.

Laurence O’Dwyer, Steven Epp, Felicity Jones, Trent Dawson, and Jarlath Conroy in CENTERSTAGE’s production of The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, Directed by Irene Lewis. Photo by Richard Anderson.

Performance Schedule for The Homecoming:
Tuesday at 8pm,
Wednesday at 1pm
Wednesday at 8pm
Thursday at 7pm
Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 2pm
Saturday at 8pm
Sunday at 2pm
Tickets are $10-$55, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 410.332.0033 or at www.centerstage.org. CENTERSTAGE is located at 700 North Calvert St, Baltimore, Maryland.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Jarlath Conroy in The SEAGULL
Photos: Chinese New Year Festival at The Huntington in San Marino
A.B. Cruz III of Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc., Lillian Kimura To Receive 2011 Justice in Action Awards
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, Lia Chang in Art & Healing Exhibit at Snug Harbor on SI
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
André De Shields leads cast of Charles Smith’s Knock Me A Kiss at Abrons Arts Center
STORIES FROM CHINESE AMERICA: The Arthur Dong Collection, Vol. 2 as 4 disc DVD Box Set
Photos & Video Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas-In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Photo Call: BD Wong and the Cast of Heading East at the Asia Society
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
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Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space will become part of newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, VIBE, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

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