Internationally acclaimed, darkly comic rom-com by Derek Murphy makes US premiere.
April 23 - May 17, 2026 at Paradise Factory
"A delight from start to finish. Murphy's The Bad Daters is one of the most charming, feel good, utterly irresistible productions you’ll see this year.” — Chris O'Rourke, The Arts Review (Dublin)
"Derek Murphy has written the perfect “Murphy’s law” kind of encounter… Makes you want to take a second look at online dating. – Catherine Henry Lamm, British Theater Guide
"Derek Murphy is clearly a gifted writer and comedian." -- The Reviews Hub (Dublin)
Following acclaimed runs in Ireland and the United Kingdom, Derek Murphy’s THE BAD DATERS will make its US premiere at Paradise Factory in the East Village. Directed by Colm Summers (Every Brilliant Thing, The Comedians) and starring Kate Arrington (Broadway’s Our Mother’s Brief Affair, Grace, and The American Plan) and Shane McNaughton (The Fall, The Equalizer, The Secret), performances begin April 23.
Wendy and Liam were bad at dating. They were even worse at falling in love. THE BAD DATERS is a darkly funny love story about moving on, making an effort, and letting someone love you. Set in Dublin and unfolding over a series of dates, a dating website brings Wendy and Liam together for a blind date neither wants.
Liam is looking for someone special, Wendy is looking for anyone but him. What happens when the last thing you’re looking for is exactly what you find? Blending biting Irish humor with emotional candor, THE BAD DATERS explores grief, loneliness, and the fragile hope of starting again.
THE BAD DATERS runs April 23 – May 17, Thursday – Sunday at 7pm. Paradise Factory is located at 64 East 4th Street New York, NY 10003. Running time is approximately 75 minutes. Note: this production contains strong language, references to suicide, and adult themes. Paradise Factory is ADA compliant, with its upper theater accessible by a short flight of stairs and a lift. Tickets start at $35, available at www.paradisefactory.org (https://thebaddaters.eventbrite.com). Instagram/Facebook/TikTok: @thebaddaters
Produced by Paradise Factory in association with Strike Crew, the production team for THE BAD DATERS includes Tyler Herald (set), Kindall Almond (costumes), Liam Bellman-Sharpe (sound), Betsy Chester (lighting), Austin Tooley (assistant director), Zachary Reiser/Neon Lights Digital Media (marketing), Devin Armstrong (photography) and José Fresán (graphic design) with producers Ken Forman, Derek Murphy, Shane McNaughton, Charmaine Tangonan, and Colm Summers.
"I’m drawn to plays that examine the distance between who we are and who we wish we could be for other people," notes director Colm Summers. " THE BAD DATERS explores that distance with humor and tenderness. It suggests that deep connection can be found across that distance if we choose to cross it. It is a play about effort, and about the quiet bravery required to keep making it.” Playwright Derek Murphy adds, " THE BAD DATERS started as a ten-minute play in the Bronx, then went to the Edinburgh Fringe, then Dublin, and now finally back home to New York. I’ve cherished the journey with these two characters, and I hope New York audiences will cherish them too.”
Derek Murphy was born and raised in Ballyfermot, Dublin. He moved to New York in his twenties. His plays have been produced in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and New York. They include The Bad Daters (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), The Good Cheaters (Dublin’s Viking), and Stand Up Man (Belfast’s Baby Grand Opera House). He has had several plays produced in NY including, A Short Wake, Appendage, Dyin’ for It, and Inside Danny’s Box. His other plays include The Burke Sisters and A Very Irish Killing, both produced in Dublin’s famed Smock Alley Theatre. During the covid lockdown, Derek wrote all 52 episodes of the wildly funny radio comedy/drama Dial M For Mammy, which was set in his beloved Ballyfermot, produced by Ballyfermot’s Basement Productions, and filled with a plethora of local Dublin actors. Derek still spends as much time as he can in his family home in Ballyfermot. Derek’s latest play, The Skip, is in development in NY and Dublin.
Colm Summers is an award-winning Irish director based in Brooklyn, NY, and the Artistic Director of the Working Theater. Recent credits include Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan (Geffen Playhouse; Theaterly’s Best of Theater 2023) and The Comedians by Philip Dawkins (Jeff Award nominee, Raven Theatre). Colm has developed work with Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Rep, Page 73, Clubbed Thumb, Rattlestick Theater, Phoenix Theater, Breaking The Binary, BRIC, and the Abbey Theatre, among others. He was a 2024 Drama League Next Stage Fellow and has served as the inaugural Resident Director at both the Geffen Playhouse and the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland. In 2023, he received Ireland’s Next Generation Artist Award. His play Falls was recognized by the Relentless Awards, and he has been commissioned by the Irish Arts Center, the Irish Arts Council, and the Puffin Foundation. He is a BMI Lehman Engel Bookwriting alum, a member of Origin Theatre Company’s inaugural writers’ group, and currently serves as Director of Opera at Rutgers University.