BUFFALO, NY – The Irish Classical Theatre Company (ICTC) continues its 2025-2026 Season with Thirst by Ronán Noone, running November 7-23, 2025. Directed by Kate LoConti Alcocer, this evocative new play dives into the untold story beneath Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, giving voice to the servants who lived, loved, and dreamed just beyond the curtain.
Set in 1912 inside the seaside Connecticut home that inspired Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Thirst unfolds in the same kitchen – where the unseen figures of O’Neill’s world, Bridget the cook, Jack the chauffeur, and Cathleen the maid, wrestle with their own hopes, secrets, and desires as the Tyrones’ tragedy looms above. Through Noone’s deft and deeply human storytelling, Thirst emerges as a moving companion piece to O’Neill’s American classic – a tale of love and ambition, class and belonging, and the eternal struggle to satisfy one’s thirst for more than life allows.
Artistic Director Keelie A. Sheridan shares: “Thirst by Ronán Noone unfolds in tandem with Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, but follows the Irish and American domestic workers who keep the Tyrone family functioning. Think the downstairs staff of Downton Abbey, centering the immigrant experience in the U.S. Though it’s set over 100 years ago, this story feels deeply relevant in our current moment.”
Playwright Ronán Noone, an award-winning Irish-American dramatist, will also appear as the featured guest in ICTC’s Speaker Series for Thirst, Sunday, November 9th – offering audiences a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this remarkable play and its connection to O’Neill’s legacy.
Thirst runs from Friday, November 7 through Sunday, November 23, 2025. Curtain times are 7:30pm Thursdays through Saturdays, with 2:00pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online at www.irishclassical.com, by phone at 716-853-4282, or in person at the ICTC Box Office. Visit the website for a full performance calendar and accessibility information.
Rooted in ICTC’s 35th Anniversary Season theme of legacy, voice, and transformation, Thirst offers a powerful meditation on who gets to tell the story of America, and who is still waiting to be heard. For more information, visit: https://irishclassical.com/thirst/