About Us
Our mission is to bring the theatrical and literary traditions, mythology, and storytelling from and about Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England to Atlanta. Arís presents full productions and staged readings of contemporary and classical plays. We celebrate annual events such as Burns Night and Bloomsday. We participate in other events that feature the literature, poetry, and music of the British Isles. Arís is committed to breathing fresh life into timeless classics as well as introducing our audience to the work of new and emerging contemporary playwrights.
Arís is the Irish for ‘encore.’
Say ‘arEEESH!’
A little history
The seed of what would become Arís was sown in the living rooms of its founding members sometime around the year 2012, reading plays from the Celtic diaspora. In 2013 the founders took the leap, started a company and chose the name Arís.
After a staged reading of selections from James Joyce to honor Bloomsday 2013, we partnered with Georgia Public Broadcasting to present our shows. Arís would spend the next three years producing its mainstage offerings in Studio B, perhaps the only live theater company to ever have a home in a TV studio.
In its inaugural season of mainstage producing, Arís kicked off with a sparklingly modern play, Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom, followed by the classic Brian Friel play, Philadelphia, Here I Come! We completed this season with a one-man show about the life of Byron. From there, we have expanded our scope to include short plays by well known playwrights, Celtic classics, popular two-handers and a new work from Scotland. Season three saw the expansion into staged readings of playwrights whom we wanted to explore and introduce to the city.
In addition to works produced by Arís, since 2013 the company has participated in the annual IrishFest Atlanta, the Celtic Christmas Concert, Bloomsday and Burns Night events, providing the bardic touch to presentations more traditionally viewed as musical in nature. At every opportunity we have looked for collaborative opportunities with other theatre companies, artists and houses.
