Outlander’s Laura Donnelly heading to Broadway in The Ferryman

Laura Donnelly may be best known to Outlander fans as Jenny Fraser Murray, but she’s Caitlin Carney in The Ferryman. The West End production is heading to Broadway, with Donnelly in tow.

Outlander‘s Jenny Fraser Murray is heading to Broadway in the fall. Well, Laura Donnelly is, in the current West End production, The Ferryman. Already winning an Olivier Award for the role of Caitlin Carney, the talented stage and screen actress now has the chance to compete for a Tony Award.

She’s not the only West End cast member going across the pond with the production. More than 30 of the current cast members are going, according to Deadline. Paddy Considine, Genevieve O’Reilly, and Dean Ashton are among the names of those moving across, with more casting still to be announced.

What is The Ferryman?

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The Ferryman is set in 1981 rural Northern Ireland, where the Carney household is getting ready for the annual harvest. If it wasn’t already hard work and deserving of the celebrations and feast afterward, a visitor interrupts the plans.

The time and place should give some of the setting away. This is set in the middle of the IRA troubles and it was partially inspired by Donnelly’s real-life story. In The Ferryman, Caitlin is a widowed mother at the mercy of her brother-in-law, who runs the farm and cares for his sick wife and children. However, it soon turns out that Caitlin’s husband was one of the “disappeared.”

This is where Donnelly’s real story comes in. Her uncle was one of the “disappeared.” This group of people were taken by the IRA and killed. They would turn up dead years later, but during that time the IRA would tell the families that their loved ones had been seen alive and well. Donnelly shares that this was a tactic by the IRA to keep people in limbo, making it so people couldn’t mourn and grieve.

But not many people have heard about the “disappeared.” In fact, despite Donnelly knowing the truth, she didn’t realize there was a group of people with this title. She was dating The Ferryman creator Jez Butterworth at the time she watched a documentary and heard her uncle’s name mentioned. Butterworth then realized how little there was about this topic and got to work on creating this important and poignant play.

When is The Ferryman on Broadway?

Donnelly and co. will come to New York in the fall. Opening night is set for October 21 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. There will be previews from October 2.

Next: Caitriona Balfe shares what makes a real Jamie Fraser

Will you go to see The Ferryman on Broadway? Are you excited to see Donnelly in something other than Outlander? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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