Edgeworth

In this collection of plays, Irish immigrants cope with family tension, betrayal, love, death-and the inevitable and unintended hilarity of dysfunctional relationships.

Wake Me is set at a funeral home in Boston, tracing the life of one family through a series of wakes. In the first scenes, the young narrator, Neely, and his raucous Irish family mourn the death of his beloved grandfather Dinny. Though the old man didn't follow the straight and narrow, Neely loved being with his grandfather as he worked as a bookie for the Italian mob. More family drama and secrets unfold as Neely observes family members' wakes over the course of forty years.

The Oxford Ordinary takes place in a local bar frequented by Irish immigrants. On one notable day, a mysterious woman visits the bar and casts her spell on the rowdy band of drunks.

The final play, The Rose of Charles Street, is about a pair of miserable middle-aged sisters. When one of them, an alcoholic divorc e, kindles a romance with a young coworker, the coworker plots to oust the other sister from her home-until something goes very wrong.

These colorful Irish plays are perfect for theater classes and local productions.