“Starts off in such a jolly manner that you may think you’re in for a comedy....Moore’s naturalistic production makes us care for everybody, no matter how vituperative, pigheaded or cartoonishly comical, and the cast is largely excellent...Each character is lovingly rendered, honoring the play’s complexity...’The Plough and the Stars’ illustrates the company’s approach at its most successful...The show has an elemental appeal that testifies to the timeless power of a story well told.”
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"Staged with unmannered directness by Charlotte Moore and acted by an ensemble cast whose members sound as though they’d just stepped off the morning plane from Dublin, it will leave you wondering why O’Casey’s plays aren’t done by every top-tier theater company in America...The abject desperation of Ms. O’Malley’s performance is but one of countless great things about this production. I cannot begin to catalog its virtues."
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“Director Charlotte Moore has done an outstanding job eliciting the humor of the first two acts before immersing us in the tragic events of the play's second half. The cast is exceptional, with hilarious performances...One of the theater's foremost antiwar playwrights, O'Casey is unsparing in his depiction of violence in "The Plough and the Stars," and Irish Repertory Theatre has produced this trilogy in three equally unsparing and masterfully executed productions."
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“The Irish Rep's Sean O'Casey trilogy ends on a note of triumph with Moore's staging of this little-seen report from the embattled streets of Dublin...’The Plough and the Stars’ is a polyphonic display of voices -- comic, tragic, wounded, furious -- bearing witness to a city at war with itself...This is the most expansive play in the trilogy, and it has a design to match...This stunning revival thrills even as its observations continue to prove heartbreakingly relevant.”
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“This moving revival is the perfect capstone to O'Casey's heartbreaking examination of struggling, tenement families...A solid cast with outstanding supporting performances...‘The Plough and the Stars’ takes a dim view of Irish nationalism, is contemptuous of any sentimentalizing of war and is rightfully scornful of the misery brought on by the curse of poverty. Many consider it O'Casey's masterpiece so do yourself a favor and see it in this timeless and heartfelt production.”
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“Directed by Moore with enormous vigor and unflinching honesty (I’m tempted to call it her best work in a long list of outstanding work)—is a must-see. It certainly is as played by a flawless troupe within Corcoran’s four cleverly shifting sets...O’Casey’s ability to fuse comedy and tragedy into the same moment becomes indisputable...The characters throb with life. And with death...’The Plough and the Stars’ is greatly distinguished by the players.”
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“Given a masterful production here, it remains a fine, moving study of everyday individuals swept up in ugly circumstances...’The Plough and the Stars’ begins more rather than less as a comedy, which grows nearly farcical...’The Plough and the Stars' throbs with robust life. Charlotte Moore, the theater’s artistic director, skillfully unites her 14 players into a finely-meshed ensemble. All of the performances are never less than vibrant.”
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"Having also helmed that inaugural Irish Rep production of the play thirty years ago, director Charlotte Moore knows these characters well, perhaps even better than O'Casey knew them himself. While it's easy to get lost in O'Casey's verbosity, Moore continually focuses our sympathy where it should be and makes effective use of a talented cast to distract from some choppy plotting in the loosely connected acts."
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