The Best Theatre of 2018

My favourite theatre moments of 2018: The Lost O'Casey, Bluebeard's Castle, Orfeo ed Euridice, Asking for It, and Dolores

The Irish National Opera, still in its inaugural year, leads the pack with 11 nods between Bluebeard’s Castle and Orfeo ed Euridice. The Abbey Theatre is cited 10 times, seven for its coproduction of The Lost O’Casey with ANU, leaving three for On Rafferty’s Hill, its only in-house production to be included. 


BEST DIRECTOR
There are some regulars here, with fine work by Louise Lowe on The Lost O’Casey, Annabelle Comyn on Asking for It, and Enda Walsh's magnificent production of Bluebeard’s Castle. But there are new names too. Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy made the riveting dance production Dolores, a vengeful response to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Emma Martin added haunting beauty and psychological depth to Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice. 

Annabelle Comyn - Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction 
Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy - Dolores, a Junk Ensemble production
Louise Lowe - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction
Emma Martin - Orfeo ed Euridice, an Irish National Opera and United Fall coproduction 
Enda Walsh - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production

BEST SET DESIGN

Orfeo ed Euridice

It was a year for too many overly literal sets but intoxicating images were still found, such as Jamie Vartan’s decadent fortress in Bluebeard’s Caste, Sabine Dargent’s otherworldy cemetery in Orfeo ed Euridice, and Francis O’Connor’s vast dungeon in DruidShakespeare: Richard III. Paul O’Mahony’s blanched set showed admirable restrained in Asking for It, and Susan Hilferty pushed the Gate towards new displays in Hamlet. 

Sabine Dargent - Orfeo ed Euridice, an Irish National Opera and United Fall coproduction
Susan Hilferty - Hamlet, a Gate Theatre Production
Francis O’Connor - DruidShakespeare: Richard III, a Druid production
Paul O’Mahony - Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction
Jamie Vartan - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Look Back in Anger. Photo: Luca Truffarelli

Not enough people are celebrating this exceptional year in lighting. Stephen Dodd’s detail in Orfeo ed Euridice and Company SJ’s production of Company by Samuel Beckett was peerless. Sarah Jane Shiels’s effects in Rough Magic’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Theatre Lovett’s FRNKNSTN were miraculous. When the beleaguered Gate Theatre tried to address harassment with Look Back in Anger, the late Chahine Yavroyan gave the building a fighting presence.  

Stephen Dodd - Orfeo ed Euridice, an Irish National Opera and United Fall coproduction / Company, a Company SJ produciton  
Paul Keogan - Hamlet, a Gate Theatre production 
Sarah Jane Shiels - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction /  FRNKNSTN, a Theatre Lovett production
Adam Silverman - Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a Complicité and Wayward Productions coproduction / Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production
Chahine Yavroyan - Look Back in Anger, a Gate Theatre production

BEST COSTUME DESIGN 

DruidShakespeare: Richard III. Photo: Robbie Jack

There were imaginative, fresh perspectives in newcomer Katie Davenport’s work for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the costuming for DruidShakespeare: Richard III by Francis O’Connor and Doreen McKenna. Emily Ní Bhroin’s conflict patterns had a subtly distorting effect in Philip Connaughton’s dance about dementia, Assisted Solo. Liadain Kaminska transformed Victor Frankenstein into his creature in FRNKNSTN, and Niamh Lunny’s lucid costuming for The Lost O’Casey was unsettlingly real. 

Katie Davenport - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction
Liadain Kaminska - FRNKNSTN, a Theatre Lovett production
Niamh Lunny - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction 
Emily Ní Bhroin - Assisted Solo, a Company Philip Connaughton production
Francis O’Connor and Doreen McKenna - DruidShakespeare: Richard III, a Druid production

BEST SOUNDSCAPE

The Lost O'Casey. Photo: Patrick Redmond

In terms of theatre music, it really was Denis Clohessy’s year. There were chilling, intimate melodies for Dolores, and cinematic orchestrations for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Seán Miller supplied rebellious tunes for his play Shame, co-written by Pom Boyd, and Veronica Dyas’s My Son My Son. Carl Kennedy’s warped sonics trapped us in an unforgettable rave in The Lost O’Casey, and Tom Lane’s sound helped deconstruct that ferocious play Look Back in Anger. 

Denis Clohessy - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction / Dolores, a Junk Ensemble production
Carl Kennedy - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction
Tom Lane - Look Back in Anger, a Gate Theatre production
Seán Miller - My Son My Son, a Veronica Dyas production /  Shame, a Pom Boyd and Seán Miller production 
Brian Walsh - Oneday, a Dick Walsh and James Moran production

BEST VIDEO DESIGN

Bluebeard's Castle.

There was cunning work by designers like Ciarán O’Melia and Luca Truffarelli to portray offstage characters without dominating live performance. Joanna Parker’s ghostly visuals for On Rafferty’s Hill provided a new way of looking at that play’s depiction of family abuse. Will Duke supplied a wealth of detail in Grief is the Thing with Feathers, but most impressive was Jack Phelan’s towering images for Bluebeard’s Castle. 

Will Duke - Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a Complicité and Wayward Productions coproduction
Joanna Parker - On Rafferty’s Hill, an Abbey Theatre production 
Ciarán O’Melia - Shame, a Pom Boyd and Seán Miller production
Jack Phelan - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production / Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction
Luca Truffarelli - Assisted Solo, a Company Philip Connaughton production 

BEST MOVEMENT

Dolores.

For their excellent production Dolores, Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy put shape on inner torment and wove power struggles into a thrilling, liberating dance. Philip Connaughton used surreal movement to portray the advances of dementia in Assisted Solo. In terms of movement direction, there was nothing quite as epic as David Bolger’s battle scene in DruidShakespeare: Richard III. 

David Bolger - DruidShakespeare: Richard III, a Druid production
Philip Connaughton - Assisted Solo, a Company Philip Connaughton production
Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy - Dolores, a Junk Ensemble production
Sue Mythen - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction /  Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction
Catherine Young - State of Exception, a Catherine Young production

BEST NEW PLAY

My Son My Son. Photo: Louis Haugh

The Lost O’Casey veers far enough from its inspiration, Seán O’Casey’s Nannie’s Night Out, to land a spot as a new play. There was Sonya Kelly’s marvellous comedy Furniture, produced by Druid. My Son My Son by Veronica Dyas was a touching drama about a community caught in warp amidst the staggering economic recovery. There was nothing like Dick Walsh’s avant-garde play, Oneday. 

Veronica Dyas - My Son My Son, a Veronica Dyas production
Sonya Kelly - Furniture, a Druid production
Louise Lowe and Owen Boss - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction 
John O’Donovan - If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You, a One Duck and Project Arts Centre coproduction
Dick Walsh - Oneday, a Dick Walsh and James Moran production

BEST PERFORMANCE

The Lost O'Casey. Photo: Patrick Redmond

Who can forget Sarah Morris and Aaron Monaghan’s exceptional performances, respectively, in The Lost O’Casey and DruidShakespeare: Richard III. Cillian Murphy was flawless in Grief is the Thing with Feathers. No one worked as hard as Sharon Carty in Orfeo ed Euridice. There were also welcome arrivals from out of town, principally Joshua Bloom and Magali Caillet-Gajan. 

Joshua Bloom - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production
Magali Caillet-Gajan - Assisted Solo, a Company Philip Connaughton production
Sharon Carty - Orfeo ed Euridice, an Irish National Opera and United Fall coproduction
Lorcan Cranitch - On Rafferty’s Hill, an Abbey Theatre production
Maeve Fitzgerald - On Rafferty’s Hill, an Abbey Theatre production
Aaron Monaghan - DruidShakespeare: Richard III, a Druid production 
Sarah Morris - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction
Cillian Murphy - Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a Complicité and Wayward Productions coproduction
Paula Murrihy - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production
Robbie O’Connor - The Lost O’Casey, an ANU and Abbey Theatre coproduction

BEST ENSEMBLE

Furniture. Photo: Stephen Cummiskey

2017 was quite the year for the ensemble, and it’s still kicking this year. Productions like Asking for It featured no one performance that could be singled out. There was great teamwork in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Furniture and the Gate Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. We sometimes mistake “good ensemble” to mean “large ensemble”, but there was just as much teamwork in the smaller cast of Junk Ensemble’s excellent Dolores.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction
Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction
Assassins, a Gate Theatre production
Dolores, a Junk Ensemble production
Furniture, a Druid production

NOTES

BEST BREAKTHROUGH

Asking for It. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

How nice to welcome Katie Davenport, who, after years of designing for small stages, turned Rough Magic’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into an absorbing fantasy. Martha Breen and Peter Corboy stood out in that production. Darragh Shannon gave a revelatory performance in Asking for It, and there’s a nod to John O’Donovan, whose wonderful play was co-produced by Project Arts Centre. 

Martha Breen - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction
Peter Corboy - A Midsummer Night's Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction
Katie Davenport - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival coproduction
John O’Donovan - If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You, a One Duck and Project Arts Centre coproduction
Darragh Shannon - Asking for It, a Landmark Productions and The Everyman coproduction

BEST COMEBACK

Bluebeard's Castle.

Paula Murrihy had appeared in many productions abroad before her meticulous performance in Bluebeard’s Castle. Patrick Moy, who hadn't been seen since his titular role in Ouroboros' Richard II in 2013, gave a deft performance in Janet Moran’s comedy A Holy Show. Both Pom Boyd and Gina Moxley channelled punk divas in their returns to playwriting. 

Pom Boyd - Shame, a Pom Boyd and Seán Miller production
Aoibheann McGinnity - The Misfits, a Corn Exchange production
Gina Moxley - The Patient Gloria, a Gina Moxley and Abbey Theatre coproduction
Patrick Moy - A Holy Show, a Mermaid Arts Centre production
Paula Murrihy - Bluebeard’s Castle, an Irish National Opera production 

WORST PRODUCTION
It's hard to imagine how any director could manage Arthur Riordan's spiralling adaptation of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Both The Snapper and Lovers: Winners and Losers were products of the silly summer season. The script for The Unmanageable Sisters was slack, but it really was critic proof. 

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a Rough Magic production
The Unmanageable Sisters, an Abbey Theatre production
ELIZA’s Adventures in the Uncanny Valley, a Pan Pan production
Lovers: Winners and Losers, a Lyric Theatre production
The Snapper, a Gate Theatre production

PRODUCTIONS I MISSED WHILE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACES

The School Days of Thaddeus K.

It's terrible to be inconsistent. Despite the excellent work I saw by Irish National Opera and Junk Ensemble, I still missed their productions of, respectively, The Tales of Hoffman and Man at the Door (Number 54). There was great word coming from John O'Brien's opera adaptation of Oscar Wilde's story The Nightingale and the Rose. The Local Group, founded by former Dublin Fringe Festival director Róise Goan, had its maiden voyage with Foyle Punt. Alas, I missed them all.

Foyle Punt, a The Local Group production
Man at the Door (Number 54), a Junk Ensemble production 
The Nightingale and the Rose, a The Everyman and John O'Brien coproduction 
The School Days of Thaddeus K, a Blue Raincoat production 
The Tales of Hoffman, an Irish National Opera production