Sheila Forsey’s Teddy at Tao House

Sep 12 & 13 (Sat 7:30pm, Sun 1:30pm)

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Rose has come home to spend Christmas with her family in Ireland after living in America for many years. At the heart of her visit is a desire to reunite with her developmentally challenged son Teddy who is now approaching adulthood. As a troubled teen mother Rose was forced to leave Teddy in the care of her parents as she sorted out her life; eventually overcoming her demons, finding herself and starting a successful business. When Rose reveals her desire to take Teddy home to America with her, she finds a fierce resistance as old battlelines get redrawn, secrets come to light, and the ghosts of the past turn holiday merriment into devastating drama.

Wexford playwright Sheila Forsey collaborated with Foundation Artistic Director Eric Fraisher Hayes to create Teddy, which premiered in 2024 at the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland. We are proud to present this US premiere featuring a cast of Irish and American actors.

About the Playwright: Sheila Forsey is an Irish Times bestselling author of historical fiction whose work is renowned for its evocative portrayal of 20th-century Ireland and its complex social history. Her books are published by Poolbeg Books, and she is represented by The Kate Nash Literary Agency in London.

In 2021, her play The Memory Room was selected as a finalist at Scripts Ireland’s Playwriting Festival, where she worked under the mentorship of Eugene O’Brien. The play subsequently received a professional reading directed by Jim Culleton of Fishamble,

supported by the Arts Council, before premiering at the Eugene O’Neill International Festival in New Ross in 2025 under the direction of Artistic Director of Tao House Eric Fraisher Hayes. Her play Teddy, developed through the Wexford Playwrights Studio, premiered at the Eugene O’Neill International Festival in New Ross in 2024 and was also directed by Hayes.

Sheila is a graduate of Maynooth University and Trinity College Dublin. She is a Writer in Schools with Poetry Ireland and works as a Heritage Expert with the Heritage Council of Ireland.

About the Director: Eric Fraisher Hayes has collaborated with playwright Sheila Forsey on productions of The Memory Room and Teddy. Both shows premiered at the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland. Overall, he has directed 10 productions with our friends and partners from the Emerald Isle. In the past 18 years, Eric has directed 36 of Eugene O’Neill’s 51 plays making him the foremost interpreter of the playwright. When not directing, he teaches acting around the San Francisco Bay Area and writes and gives presentations. Eric has been named a co-chair for the 2029 International Eugene O’Neill Conference in Los Angeles.