The Black Wolfe Tone: A new play by Kwaku Fortune
Mary Hendriksen
May 14th, 2025
“Growing up mixed race in Ireland,” says Kwaku Fortune, “I was told at times that I wasn’t Irish enough . . . and, at other times, that I wasn’t Black enough.”
In what ever ways he was found “not enough,” one thing was certain: He felt an outsider.
“I was always trying to find a place for myself in a country that rejected me,” Fortune says.
Drawing on those experiences, Fortune’s play, The Black Wolfe Tone, is playing at New York City’s Irish Repertory Theatre from now until June 1. Its themes are identity, the sheer rage and confusion a young person can feel—against his family, his friends, society in general, but most of all, himself. It show a glimpse of how a young man deals, or chooses not to deal, with the inevitable darkness present in life when growing up mixed race in Ireland.
Produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company and the Irish Repertory Theatre, playwright Fortune is also the play’s sole actor. The director is Nicola Murphy Dubey.
And why the reference to Wolfe Tone?
Learning his Irish history as do all schoolchildren in Ireland, Fortune explains that he was drawn early on to the 18th century reformer Theobold Wolfe Tone, the Irish republican and rebel who sought to overthrow English rule in Ireland and who led a French military force to Ireland during the insurrection of 1798.
“Wolfe Tone resonated with me, because he was a Protestant who fought for the rights of all Irish people, including Catholics,” says Fortune. “He was an outsider, fighting for a better Ireland.
“It’s a thin thread, but I believe Kevin’s [the character we meet in the play] fight for a place of belonging and in a country that has rejected him, is also a fight to create and envision a version of Ireland that is more inclusive, more accepting–ultimately, ‘a better Ireland.’ So you have two versions of Irish ‘outsiders’ fighting the good fight for a country they have been rejected by, well Kevin at least, but one that they love and believe in, nonetheless.”
The path to the stage for The Black Wolfe Tone
The backstory of the production of The Black Wolfe Tone is as interesting as the story itself.
In 2022, Fishamble, The New Play Company and the Irish Repertory Theatre founded the Transatlantic Commissions Programme to address head-on the historical inequalities in representation that have existed in the theatrical canon. Together, the two companies commissioned four Black Irish playwrights to travel to the United States and continue working on their pieces and expanding their creative footprint.
Fortune was one of the four. Along with the other playwrights, he worked with Obie Award-winning playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith as a mentor. With the support of Culture Ireland, the four works in progress were presented as readings at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York, the Los Angeles Public Library, and the San Francisco Public Library.
In 2023-2024, the Transatlantic Commissions Residency developed these plays further, culminating in readings in Dublin and New York—a step that was supported by Ireland’s Arts Council, through its International Residency Initiatives Scheme.”
The Black Wolfe Tone was then chosen for production by Fishamble and the Irish Repertory Theatre for a two-month run in 2025 in New York and Dublin, respectively.
And, with an opening in New York City on May 8, audiences have been enthusiastic. Alana Raquel Bowers is the play’s associate producer.
“With a recent trend of revivals in New York theatres, people are hungry for new stories,” Bowers says. “And Kwaku’s story is a new story. It’s deep, it’s intense, and it has the message of portraying the mental health of an ‘othered’ person as important. And while the themes may be dark, there are veins of beautiful comedy, too. Audiences are definitely responding to both the weight of the themes as well as the levity of the humor because, ultimately, what they are seeing is a flawed human being asking questions we ask ourselves every day. We see a little bit of ourselves in the beautiful nuanced character Kwaku has created.”
How to see The Black Wolfe Tone
On view through this month, AAIDN has partnered with the Irish Repertory Theatre to sponsor discounts for all performances.
Use the discount code TBWT20 to receive $20 off your original ticket at the theatre’s website: Offer is good for up to two tickets per order.
Two NYC performances will feature talkbacks: Patron Night on May 22, 7:00 pm and Black Theatre Night on May 30.
Beginning in June, The Black Wolfe Tone will move to Ireland—with performances June 4-14 at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin; June 17-18 at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray; and then concluding its run June 20-21 at the Cork Midsummer Festival, Cork Arts Theatre, in association with The Everyman.
For more: See the trailer for The Black Wolfe Tone
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