Abbey Theatre's DEAR IRELAND Premieres Live Online
Over four nights (28 April - 1 May), audiences throughout Ireland and across the globe can watch the world premiere of Dear Ireland a?" a historic digital theatre project that brings together 50 brand new monologues, commissioned by the Abbey Theatre as a rapid response to the COVID-19 crisis. Each piece of work was written and created in self isolation by 100 participating artists.
Abbey Theatre Announces 100 Artists For DEAR IRELAND
The Abbey Theatre has commissioned writers from Ireland, with unique additional contributions from the USA, China and Italy, to each write a monologue, to be performed by 50 actors, and then streamed on the Abbey's digital platforms. Today, 15 April 2020, Graham McLaren and Neil Murray, Directors of the Abbey Theatre, announce the lineup of artists taking part in the theatre's historic project, Dear Ireland.
Dublin Theatre Festival 2019 Announces Its Programme
This year's Dublin Theatre Festival programme reflects with many contemporary topics - but also reaches beyond, to a poetic enquiry about the times we live in. Over three weeks performances include 10 World Premieres, reimagined classic texts, inspiring international projects from Australia, Belgium Estonia, Portugal, Sweden, the UK and the USA, and an expanded season of Theatre for Children.
BWW Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE at The Gate Theatre
Tennessee Williams in his essay 'The Catastrophe of Success' paints a poignant picture of his life following the startling success of his play The Glass Menagerie. He confides: “I was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until the struggle was removed.” Seven decades later Williams' masterpiece remains a staple in American schools and continues to profoundly move audiences.
In this “memory play” the Wingfields, a disenchanted St. Louis family, depict an alternative reality to their dull, dispiriting lives. The son and narrator, Tom Wingfield (Marty Rea) escapes to a brighter envisioned future, his mother Amanda (Samantha Bond) reaches into her glorious past in an attempt to fashion a similar reality for her daughter, and his painfully shy sister Laura (Zara Devlin) reluctantly emerges from the blissful world of her glass menagerie to entertain the possibility of love. Jim O'Conner (Frank Blake), the gentleman caller, appears in Act 2 oblivious of the complex family dynamics.
BWW Review: THIRST (AND OTHER BITS OF FLANN) at The Abbey Theatre
Imagine your absolute favorite story. Swap the protagonist for a bicycle-averse sergeant, an amiable but soused philosopher, a fellow tippler a few shillings short of a pound and a publican with a brain that should be pickled for posterity.
Scour the stage for 4 exceptional Irish actors to narrate the tale and then assemble them in the one location in Ireland where the finest stories are exchanged - a public house. Furnish them with one of Ireland's savviest wordsmiths and the result is unquestionably a treat.
BWW Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Lincoln Center White Light Festival
In a desolate land lies a stone, shaped by waiting for who knows how long to a stool. A sad dying tree with three branches undulates. And a dry tableau of firmament that matches the sky sets the stage for director Garry Haynes' Ireland's Druid Theater production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival. The production excels at finding the humor in the mundane; it pierces with a gracious, poignant truth of friendship. Haynes mines the piece for its quiet moments and visceral existential angst and vaudeville farce. She firmly redefines our notion of tragic daily rituals while finding the necessary, vital humor.
BWW Review: DRUIDSHAKESPEARE: RICHARD III at THE ABBEY THEATRE
Theater heaven. A rare occurrence when every component of a production converges in perfect harmony to create a tour de force. Druid Theatre Company have accomplished this with their current production of Richard III. Adding pizzazz, Opening Night was attended by a fine complement of glitterati from Irish radio, theater, and screen.