Charlotte Moore's creative mission for the Irish Repertory Theatre is to bring together a collaboration of talent for creative impact in Irish theatre. Moore believes the best place for Irish culture to be presented is not in the pubs but on the stage where the sweep and depth of Irish roots can be positively portrayed in artistic and entertaining ways. By Bob Roman

THE IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE WAS FOUNDED in 1988 by Charlotte Moore and Ciaran O'Reilly, in New York City. In 1995 it moved to its present location at 132 West 22nd Street, wherein it's gem of a theater has produced and presented the classic works of O'Casey, Synge, Shaw, Boucicault, Dylan Thomas, Samuel Beckett and Eugene O'Neill.

The contemporary artistry of Hugh Leonard, Frank McCourt, Tom Murphy, Brian Friel, Peter Sheridan, Patricia Burke Brogan, Pat McCabe, Geraldine Aron, Jennifer Johnson, Tommy Makem, Shivaun O'Casey Sebastian Barry, and Harold Prince has also enhanced its creative mission to bring together actors, directors, writers and designers to achieve a dynamic, bold, innovative, relevant, authentic, aggressive, and intelligent theatrical impact.

Charlotte Moore's New York acting performances include her two Tony Award nominations for Cheminde Fev and Meet Me in St. Louis, Major Baubara, A Perfect Gaunesh, The Pefect Party, Morning's at Seven, Private Lives, Love for Love, Holiday, The Great God Brown, and many performances with the N.Y. Shakespeare Festival. She has received The Outer Critics Award, The Drama Desk Award (for excellence in presenting distinguished Irish drama), while directing 22 Irish Rep productions and all 8 Broadway benefits.

These Broadway benefits have boasted many theatrical celebrities, including Katharine Hepburn, Mile O'Shea, Angela Lansbury, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Reeve, Katharine Houghton, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, John Cullum, Jason Robert Brown, Peter Gallagher, Eric Stolz, Daisy Prince, Rosie O'Donnell, Pauline Flanagan, Swoosie Kurtz, Kevin Spacey and three of the McCourt brothers.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EARLY DAYS: FAMILY. SIBLINGS. INFLUENCES.ETC.
Just say I was in prison until I was 20, or something, or anything. I just don't talk about my private life, my very private family. I did on one occasion, and they, particularly my mother, didn't like it. I promised I would never do it again.

Suffice it to say I was born in a small town next to Marion, Illinois, the town now famous for its high security prison where mob boss John Gotti has been held. On both family sides the Irish origins were in Co. Wexford. Although, my grandparents on both sides were Kennedys, they were unrelated. Moore is a family name, which I use.

I will say that I have a sister, Sondra, who teaches high school English and Drama in Elkhart, Indiana. Things really began in my theatrical interests and involvement when I went back to Washington University in St. Louis to get my Master's Degree in English and Theatre. I had always loved movies and was fascinated by acting. But hadn't really tried it. So I was stunned, amazed, when I was chosen to be part of the Creek chorus, an important element in the terrible and tragic events in the Hippolytus of Euripides.

I loved it. I started taking classes. Then I appeared in all the plays, particularly those by Tennessee Williams. I was Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Miss Alma in Summer and Smoke, and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. I also became a close friend of Tennessee and his mother, Miss Edwina. They both came by to see the productions. Later, I did the entire William Canon in various venues, including the Spole to Drama Festivals, both in Charleston, South Carolina and in Italy.

I knew Tennessee very well, extremely well. It began when I was 17, and lasted until the day he died. We went to London together. I vacationed at his home in Key West, Florida, twice. I went to social events with him when he needed a girl on his arm. He trusted me. He didn't trust many people.

I had a special liaison with his mother, too. During her final days he would not answer the telephone afraid he would learn she had died. So I used to take Polaroid pictures of her sitting up in bed, made up and pretty. That meant everything in the world to him.

AND YOU DID WILLIAMS' LESSER KNOWN A LOVELY SUNDAY FOR CREVE COEUR TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1979
Yes, the play was essentially a duel of personalities between Shirley Knight and myself. And she was wonderful.

Authors Note: New York Times critic Richard Eder intoned; "Charlottee Moore is precise and supple as the sinuous, snakelike Helena. Her eyes droop and flutter, she moves in the steaminess like an icicle that refuses to melt, and she aims her smile like a rifle with a telescopic sight."

DO YOU HAVE FAVORITE ROLES IN YOUR ACTING CAREER?
Yes, I played Linda Seton, the nonconformist sister, in the successful revival of Philip Barry's Pre-Depression 1928 comedy Holiday. The role was played on Broadway by Hope Williams and then young Katharine Hepburn on the stage, and, of course, again in Miss Hepburn's memorable playing in the excellent 1938 film version. I was really very honored when both of them came to see the revival and said they enjoyed it, and my work.

Another favorite was working with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. It was a singular experience of a lifetime. Most of my scenes were with Richard. I had literally worshiped him all of my life. And he certainly was not a disappointment. It was an incalculable lesson in acting and in self-confidence. And Elizabeth Taylor is one of the sweetest and generous people I've ever met.

TELL US HOW YOU BECAME SO INVOLVED IN IRISH THEATER. WHY? HOW?
I had done some of the Irish classics, particularly Shaw. But, in 1980, I did Hugh Leonard's Summer on Broadway and met Pauline Flanagan, a magnificent actress and dear friend, and Ciaran Ci'Reilly. Ciaran is the soul and spirit of this theater. He is my soulmate. We are joined at the hip. We exist together, despite one another. It's not always peaceful when we do a production, but we share the view of the greatness of Irish Drama, and we always resolve things.

WHAT ROLE CAN IRISH DRAMA PLAY IN HELPING IRISH AND IRISH-AMERICANS BETTER REALIZE THEIR CULTURE AND HERITAGE?
The Irish are a somewhat unrepresented minority. That said I want to urge them to 'Get out of the pubs and come to the Theater.' You'll discover the sweep of Irish immigration repre sented in a positive, authentic way here. You'll find your real emotional, personal, political roots. Your reasons for being.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE YOUNG PERFORMERS IN IRISH THEATRE YOU PARTICULARLY ADMIRE?
Madeleine Potter, Derdriu Ring, Patrick Fitzgerald and Ciaran. I really think he has tremendous talent.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN DIRECTING? AND DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE ASSIGNMENTS?
I had done a couple of off-off Broadways, but really made my directing debut with the first Irish Rep production, O'Casey's The Plollgh and the Stars. I suppose my favorites are Tom Murphy's turbulent family drama, A Whistle in the Darle which we've done here twice, and Don Boucicault's comedy The Sha~ghraun, which became one of our most successful productions.

IF YOU LIVED THE LIFE OF SOMEONE ELSE IN THE THEATER, WHO MIGHT THAT BE?
Rosemary Harris, Marion Seldes, or Pauline Flanagan. That's who it would be. They have a life in the theater. And that is what I love. I have not higher admiration than that. They are all idols of mine.

WHAT FUTURE PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE IRISH REP?
We have and desperately need support to expand. And we want to keep ourselves at the highest artistic and entertainment levels. As we grow, our limited seating (140 seats) can become a problem. Our subscription plan is changing as we grow. When we sell out, which is often, we have to make provisions for those who want to come.

We are planning a musical version of Boucicault's Streets of New York, an adaptation which I wrote. We also plan to revive J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, which he did in 1990. No one can do it as we can. There will be no phony accents. We know how to capture the sensitivity and sensibility. We'll play it as it is. We also want to do the new Irish play wrights, such as: Billy Roach, Martin McDonagh, Sebastian Barry, and others.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TELL READERS OF IRISH CONNECTIONS?
I think the magazine and its purposes are great. The younger Irish need a magazine that presents Irish topics and theater. The hopes, dreams, points of view, and the ways that our too often'troubled' history and social situations have taken--can take a more positive slant.