If this show had been just a chatty, autobiographical concert, I would have enjoyed it for Dempsey’s expressive vocals and his local connection and following, because that would be a concert. If this show had been something approaching a Ted … Continue reading Tales from the Holywell A Review of Damien Dempsey at the Abbey
Photo by Ros Kavanagh. “Why do you want to learn English?”, I ask each new batch of students I receive. Their answers, which usually go along the lines of “so I can get a better job” or “so that I … Continue reading A Review of Translations by Brian Friel at the Abbey Theatre Director’s Caitriona McLaughlin’s characters belong on the stage and haunt your imagination for days afterwards
Photography by Ruth Medjber. Haunted by Tara Flynn Haunted is an endearing and honest show. Tara Flynn shows herself to be not only a competent and agile solo performer, but also a wonderful storyteller. From her smooth transitions from … Continue reading A Double Bill Review of Tara Flynn and Pantibliss in the Abbey Theatre Tara Flynn shows herself to be a competent and agile solo performer, Panti Bliss is iconic as ever
PHOTO: Genevieve Hulme-Beaman as Lucia Joyce and Stephen Hogan as James Joyce in Edna O’Brien’s Joyce’s Women. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh Edna O’Brien’s involvement with James Joyce began far earlier than her publication of James and Nora in 1981, and her subsequent … Continue reading Edna O’Brien’s ‘Joyce’s Women’ // Abbey Theatre Review Joyce’s Women ought to have been titled Joyce Framed by his Women
In 2016, Mike McCormack published Solar Bones through Dublin’s own Tramp Press, effectively setting the story of Marcus Conway (Stanley Townsend) into motion. An experimental novel immediately met with high acclaim, Solar Bones became the third most sold Irish … Continue reading Mike McCormack’s Irish novel Solar Bones adapted for the Abbey The experimental Irish novel’s transition to the stage
●●●○○ Ulster American, a new play by David Ireland, ran at the Abbey Theatre from 9-20 April, and is directed by Gareth Nicholls. Ireland is best known for his play Cyprus Avenue, which won the Irish Times Theatre Award for … Continue reading Ulster American // Review
●●●●○ Emotionally thrilling—in the right dosage. Come from Away is a musical that has left audiences from Canada, Broadway and Abbey Theatre speechless and here is why: Come from Away, written and composed by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is … Continue reading Come from Away // Reviewed Directed by Christopher Ashley
●●●●● Waiting in the Abbey’s lobby before the show, I am struck by the diversity of this audience. While still a female majority attending, there are far more than a few ‘token’ men, and the age range spans from the … Continue reading The Abbey’s Asking For It // REVIEW
Come from Away is a new musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein which has been a great success across North America and is now hitting the Abbey Theatre. It is based on the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers … Continue reading ‘Come From Away’ with David Shannon Larissa Brigatti catches up with the Irish Actor ahead of the Abbey Theatre opening
●●●●● Richard III is a play written by William Shakespeare in 1593 about Richard III, who was King of England for just two years, from 1483 until the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where he died. He had usurped … Continue reading Richard III // reviewed Richard III returns in Druid Shakespeare’s latest production
With Porcelain, writer Margaret Perry has created a powerful study of the mechanics of mental isolation. Bridget and Hat lead paralleled lives in 1890s Tipperary and modern-day London. Both Hat and Bridget, the latter of whom is based on … Continue reading Porcelain on the Peacock Stage is an Irish Triumph With Porcelain, writer Margaret Perry has created a powerful study of the mechanics of mental isolation.
●●●○○ To say that director Bisi Adigun loves JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World would be an understatement. Ten years after premiering his version of The Playboy of the Western World in the Abbey Theatre, he has released … Continue reading Adigun Offers “An Other Playboy…???” To say that director Bisi Adigun loves JM Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” would be an understatement.