The Tallest Man in the World
The Tallest Man in the World was produced by The Tank Theater in New York in 2019. Directed by Ran Xia. The play has recently been translated into the French language and is available from the French literary agency L’Arche.
Originally produced by Corcadorca Theatre Company in Ireland, The Tallest Man in the World is a play about an unspeakable love, almighty difference and the torment of memory. Irish Theatre Magazine review.
“Poetic, powerful and highly nuanced”, this ‘trio’ for voices was a finalist in the Eugene O’ Neill National Playwright’s Conference, selected for the Great Plains Theater Conference Omaha, USA 2017.
“…a psychologically intriguing play…” – The Irish Examiner 4*
“Seeing The Tallest Man in the World should be high up on any theater fan’s list.” Culturecatch.com
“The Tallest Man in the World weaves a haunting, poetic tale of love and loneliness.” Theeasy.com
”A unique and beautiful piece of theatre” – Onstageblog.com
“… deeply relatable, speaking to the limits of human perception and our capacity to alienate others by pursuing love or recognition.”


Extract
“She was spirited and slight,
had her soul on her sleeve that night
and I envied her ability
to place one word after another
join them all up
and sing of her luminous darkness.
She’s smaller then I’d remembered her
shrunken somehow,
no future left in her indolent eyes.
Just a jangling of broken instruments,
broken melodies,
broken bones.”





Corcadorca - The Tallest Man in the World [Ireland]
The Irish theatre company Corcadorca presented Ailís Ní Ríain’s The Tallest Man in the World at Cork Midsummer Festival 2013. Directed by Pat Kiernan and starring George Hanover, Tadhg Hickey and Dan Reardon at the Triskel, Cork City, Ireland.
REVIEWS
“…a psychologically intriguing play…” – The Irish Examiner 4*
“A significant talent” – The Irish Times
“Ní Ríain’s writing is superb” – The Irish Examiner
“A thoughtful, intelligent and above all brave artistic voice.” – The Irish Theatre Magazine

'The Tallest Man in the World' at Great Plains Theater Conference, USA
The Tallest Man in the World was selected from over 4000 submissions to be part of The Great Plains Theater Conference in Nebraska, USA in June 2017. GPTC invites a number of distinguished and nationally known playwrights, directors and actors each year.
These guest artists are in place to nurture and mentor new and emerging playwrights and Conference attendees.
Past panelists, workshop leaders and respondents include: Edward Albee, Doug Wright, Emily Mann, Mac Wellman, Arthur Kopit, Marshall Mason, Mark Lamos, Theresa Rebeck, Constance Congdon, Erik Ehn, Will Eno, Lee Blessing and David Lindsay-Abaire among others.
The Tallest Man in the World was workshopped and directed by New York-based director, Meghan Finn.

