Ireland

Writer: Fitz-James O’Brien Adaption: Michael James Ford Director: Bairbre Ni Chaoimh Reviewer: Laura Marriott In Dinner in Mulberry Street Christmas in New York is falling far short of a fairy tale. It is 1857 and newlyweds Agnes and Dick have fallen on hard times. Unable to find work they must use every ounce of creativity and initiative that they have to ...

Text and Lyrics: Feidlim Cannon, Gary Keegan, and Mary Coughlan Original Music: Valgeir Sigurdsson Director: Feidlim Cannon and Gary Keegan Reviewer: Laura Marriott Woman Undone premiered at Dublin's Project Arts Centre and from the queue of people waiting to go in it was clear that this was one of the theatre seasons big draws. For someone unfamiliar with Mary Coughlan the reasons soon ...

Writer: Louise O’Neill Adaption: Meadhbh McHugh in collaboration with Annabelle Comyn Director: Annabel Comyn Witnessing Asking For itis a small act of intervention in the hypocrisy and victim-blaming of social and legal rape culture, but it is an important one. This liquid, shifting adaptation of Louise O’Neill’s powerful novel replicates the disintegration of self when shame and trauma meet in ...

Composer: Béla Bartók Director: Enda Walsh Conductor:  André de Ridder Reviewer: Tricia O’Beirne Béla Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle, with Libretto by Béla Balázs, was first performed in the early twentieth century and is playfully re-imagined here in director Enda Walsh’s staging, presented by the Irish National Opera with music by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. The opera is a duet sung ...

Writer: Oscar Wilde Adaption: Nicki Bloom  Director: Andy Packer Reviewer: Ciara L. Murphy Australian theatre company Slingsby breathe new life into Oscar Wilde’s The Young Kingin an enticing and charming production. When a young boy, raised by an old goat herder in the forest, learns that he is the heir to his kingdom’s throne, his life changes at once. Thrown ...

Writer: Deirdre Kinahan Director: Jim Culleton Reviewer: Tricia O’Beirne Deirdre Kinahan’s play is circular in form, unlike the bricks and mortar Rathmines Road of the title which provides the setting for the violent rape of a young woman some years ago. This event resurfaces over the period of a night, potentially changing the lives of the play’s protagonists but ultimately ...

Writer: Conor McPherson Director: Simon Evans Reviewer: Laura Marriott “In the dark, there are vampires.” So, first things first. This is Brendan Coyle’s return to the Irish stage for the first time since 2002 and he is reuniting with playwright Conor McPherson for the Irish premiere of Saint Nicholas. For everyone wanting to know if it was worth the wait: ...

Writer: Edouard Louis Adaptor: Pamela Carter Director: Stewart Laing Reviewer: Laura Marriott “Today I will be a man.” There has been a trend in recent months for plays that explore what it means to be a man and how to go about being so. The End of Eddy fits into this pattern and delves into the ideas of manhood and masculinity ...