Fresh from appearing on our screens in Wheel of Time, Cork actor Dónal Finn will soon be treading the boards in London as he takes on a main role in Hadestown.
Performing as Orpheus opposite Grace Hodnett Young’s Eurydice and Zachary James’ Hades, Finn will be among the cast for Hadestown’s West End premiere in February 2024 at the Lyric Theatre.
The acclaimed Broadway musical phenomenon, written by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and directed by Rachel Chavkin, is the winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.
The musical journeys to the underworld and back, intertwining two mythic love stories – that of young dreamers Orpheus, played by Finn, and Eurydice, as well as that of King Hades and his wife Persephone.
Finn is from the village of Dromina in north Cork and studied at a prestigious London drama school.
He credits his parents Dónal and Maureen for fostering his interest throughout, telling the Irish Examiner in a recent interview that he wishes to “repay my mother for every ounce of petrol that she ever put in the car to drive me to Mallow, Charleville, Cork, Kanturk. Pantos in Fermoy, musicals in the Opera House, drama lessons out in Ballincollig.
“If I could go as far as to repay her for all the hours and the miles that she put in that Mitsubishi Space Wagon. I’m eternally grateful to both my parents, for such wild and almost I would say daft support,” he said.
Finn’s previous theatre work includes Sing Street in Boston, United States; and Albion at the Almeida.
He has starred in television shows including Rogue Heroes, The Witcher and Cursed as well as films like Four Letters of Love, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and How to Build a Girl.
He was named the 2023 Irish Screen Star of Tomorrow and also named on Screen International’s first-ever Rising Stars Ireland talent spotlight.
