MITF 2026: Short Play 'Holy Water From Ireland' Casting Now for July New York Run

A new short play is casting now for a summer 2026 run at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City, and the timeline is tight enough that actors should be moving on this one soon. 'Holy Water From Ireland,' a 10-minute drama by writer Dan Walsh, is currently seeking talent through director and casting director Rebecca Frazier, with performances scheduled for July 11 and 12, 2026, at the American Theatre of Actors in Midtown Manhattan.

The play centers on Theresa and her son Robby, who find themselves in a conversation after Sunday church that begins with small talk about holy water and faith before opening into something more charged: the subject of Robby's estranged sibling. It is a compact, character-driven piece in the Irish-American drama tradition, the kind of writing that demands two actors fully committed to a lived-in relationship and the specific emotional grammar of family avoidance. Walsh's logline suggests a script built on subtext and quiet revelation, the sort of material that rewards actors with strong instincts for naturalistic restraint.

Rebecca Frazier serves dual roles here as both director and casting director, which means the person you will audition for is the same person shaping the production's artistic vision from the ground up. That kind of unified creative control is common in festival work and typically signals a director who knows exactly what she is looking for. Frazier's direct involvement in casting makes a strong, specific audition even more important than usual.

The production is presented under the banner of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, one of New York's longest-running independent theater festivals, known for supporting short-form and emerging work across a wide range of genres and formats. The American Theatre of Actors, the producing partner and venue, has been a fixture of the New York independent theater scene for decades, offering rehearsal and performance space to festival and independent productions in the heart of Midtown. For actors, this combination means a legitimate, established festival context with real performance infrastructure behind it.

In terms of schedule, the commitment is modest but specific. The production calls for one Zoom read-through during the week of July 7, 2026, one three-hour in-person rehearsal also during that week, one tech rehearsal on either July 10 or July 11 (to be confirmed), and two performances on July 11 and 12. That is a streamlined but professionally structured process for a 10-minute piece, and it means actors need to be available in New York during that window. The compressed rehearsal schedule is standard for festival format work and will reward actors who come in prepared and off-book early.

With only two roles in the play, this is an extremely limited casting opportunity. The roles of Theresa and Robby require actors who can convincingly portray a mother-son dynamic with history, weight, and the kind of unspoken familiarity that reads immediately in a short-form piece where there is no time to build backstory slowly. Irish-American cultural fluency, whether lived or carefully researched, will likely be an asset. Anyone whose work lives in the family drama space should be paying close attention right now.

For the full casting details, production contacts, and scheduling updates on 'Holy Water From Ireland,' the complete listing is available now on ProductionList.com. Given the small cast size and the production's active casting status, this is not a listing to bookmark and revisit later. Check the full entry, get your materials together, and make your move.

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