Tag Archives: The Abbey Theatre

Writer: Edna O'Brien Adaption: Edna O'Brien Director: Graham McLaren Reviewer: Ciara L. Murphy "He came home." Those three words change Kate's life forever. Kate (Grace Collender) and Baba (Lola Pettigrew) are about to embark on the adventure of their lives. Heading for St. Enda's convent school, these two teenage girls confront their own sexuality, the limits and challenges of female ...

Writer: Dael Orlandersmith Director: Neel Keller Reviewer: Liam Harrison Dael Orlandersmith’s Forever is a semi-autobiographical monologue centred on two lives. It is a celebration of Orlandersmith’s own life in Paris, visiting the graves of kindred spirits – Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust – at Père Lachaise Cemetery. It is also a mourning for the life of her Mother, Beula, ...

Director: Conall Morrison Writer: George Bernard Shaw Reviewer: Liam Harrison   George Bernard Shaw’s 1896 playYou Never Can Tellfeels like it could not have been put on at a worst time at The Abbey. Embroiled as the theatre is in a storm around its attitude towards gender politics, the timing of Shaw’s outmoded and uneven play feels particularly out of ...

Writer &Director: Mark O’ Rowe Reviewer: Ciara Murphy Mark O’ Rowe takes to the main Abbey Theatre stage for the first time with his new play Our Few and Evil Days. Set in present day Dublin, the play revolves around one family and their darkest secret. Adele, played by Charlie Murphy, brings home her new boyfriend Dennis, played by Tom ...

Writers: Tim Crouch and Andy Smith Director: Karl James Reviewer: Cormac O'Brien Ever since his breakthrough play, My Arm in 2002, Tim Crouch has pushed the boundaries of theatre making. Crouch’s work constantly raises probing questions about what theatre is for and why we go to it, delving deep into that complex relationship between the theatrical creation of meaning and ...

Writers: Roisin Coyle Director: Aoife Spillane-Hinks Reviewer: Monica Insinga Originally developed under the Abbey Theatre’s New Playwrights’ Programme, Sick by Roisin Coyle (produced by Crude Mechanics) is a powerful and daring take on the other side of caregiving. The blurb starts off with: “Sick is about what happens at the end of love.” And in just 70 minutes Coyle manages ...

Writer: George Bernard Shaw Director: Rosin McBrinn Reviewer: Cormac O'Brien It was with much trepidation that this reviewer took his seat in the Abbey last night. Having been in love with George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House for nigh-on thirty years now, ever since an enlightened secondary-school teacher performed a miracle by bringing Shaw’s 1920 masterpiece to life for a group ...

Writer: Brian Friel Director: Patrick Mason Reviewer: Ciara Murphy Directed by Patrick Mason, Brian Friel’s Aristocrats comes to the Abbey Theatre, bringing with it a rarely seen representation of life in Ireland’s rural Roman Catholic ‘Big House’. Far from functional, the O’Donnell family reunite in Ballybeg to celebrate their youngest sister, Claire’s (Jane McGrath) wedding. Arriving back in O’Donnell Hall ...