That 'Marry' Is the Very Theme

Production image of I ♥ Alice ♥ I by Amy Conroy (photo: Ruby Washington). As the nation approaches a referendum on same-sex marriage, what has Irish theatre told us about marriage and gay lives?

Who would have thought that Dion Boucicault, the 19th century Irish melo-dramatist who nowadays fills seats for the popular and commercial theatre, is presently one of the most politically provocative playwrights in the United States? Or at least sharing the mantle with the rising Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who has adapted Boucicault’s The Octoroon for New York’s Soho Rep.

Druid Announces Details of DruidShakespeare

Two out of three kings have been cast as women: one of several innovative decisions made in Druid's presentation of Shakespeare's Henriad Cycle. 

Details of DruidShakespeare have been announced. Click on to my feature at A Younger Theatre to find out more ...

Abbey Theatre, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': A Most Rare Vision

A newly politicised, dreamy and gauzy imagining of Shakespeare's comedy at the Abbey Theatre. Photo: Ros Kavanagh. 

Abbey Theatre

Feb 17-Mar 28

My review of A Midsummer Night's Dream is over at A Younger Theatre. Now it's your turn. What did you think of director Gavin Quinn's interpretation? Do you prefer a faithful performance of the text or a deconstruction à la Pan Pan? What performances stood out for you? Your thoughts on Aedín Cosgrove's design and, furthermore, Bruno Schwengl's strange and eccentric costumes? Would you like to see Quinn work at the Abbey again? Should the theatre keep producing Shakespeare?

Sound off in comments below. 

Irish Theatre to See in 2015

ANU Productions present PALS, an installation based on events surrounding the Irish who fought at Gallipoli in WWI. 

Some plays for your diary ...

Abbey Theatre, 'Our Few and Evil Days': Boy Who Cried Wolf

The artful surface of Mark O'Rowe's play leaves us suspecting throughout. Things are not what they seem.

Abbey Theatre, Dublin Theatre Festival 

Oct 3-Oct 25

My review of Our Few and Evil Days by Mark O'Rowe coming up just as soon as I say hello in Brown Thomas ...

BrokenCrow, 'Enter Juliet': If Our Minds Be So

Abandoned psychiatric patients must mount their own Shakespeare-type play for survival in Ronan Fitzgibbon's dark thriller.

Everyman Palace, Cork
Jun 30-Jul 5

My review of Enter Juliet by Ronan Fitzgibbon coming up just as soon I jockey for a position in what is a doggy dog world  ...

Fay Brings Northern Soul to Lyric, Abbey Premieres New Mark O'Rowe Play

The Lyric Theatre's new Executive Producer Jimmy Fay to direct Judith Roddy and Carol Moore in a production of Pentecost.

The Lyric Theatre announced its new season yesterday, the first under the direction of new Executive Producer Jimmy Fay. The Abbey Theatre also revealed a sneak peak of their Autumn/Winter line-up. My thoughts on both after the jump ...

Abbey Theatre, 'Twelfth Night': By the Roses of the Spring

A modern telling of Shakespeare's comedy might just break new ground. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.

Abbey Theatre

Apr 30-May 24

My review of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare coming up just as soon as I cross-garter in a fashion you protest ...

Siren Productions, 'A Tender Thing': Defying the Stars

Romeo and Juliet are given the gift of time in Ben Power's reimagining of the Shakespeare classic but will their tragic fates remain the same? 

Jan 28-Feb 15
Project Arts Centre


My review of A Tender Thing by Ben Power coming up after the jump ...

Irish Theatre to See in 2014

Some plays for your diary ...

New Tom Murphy Play and Mark O'Rowe's Adaptations of Shakespeare Make Up New Druid Line-Up

Details yet to surface on the new Tom Murphy play Brigit.

Exciting news from Druid Theatre Company after announcing their next line-up of plays.

Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing': There Was a Star Danced

After having just described my on-again-off-again relationship with Shakespeare, I find myself discussing the Bard again, this time in Joss Whedon's film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which just screened at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. My review coming up just as soon as I was born under a rhyming planet ...

Pan Pan, ‘The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane’: Revisited

Black Box Theatre, Galway

Nov 30-Dec 1

I had forgotten how jam-packed The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane is before I went to see it for the second time last night in Galway. Despite having already written about the show (twice), I have some further comments below, especially in relation to how this production differs from the debut run last year.

Corcadorca, ‘The Winter’s Tale’: Godsend

Cork Opera House

Oct 11-22

I managed to catch Corcadorca’s production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale but I don’t have time to do an in-depth review. I have to say though that this is not only the first production of a Shakespearean text by an Irish company that I enjoyed and would recommend (not including postdramatic phenom The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane) but it was also one of the most mesmerising and engaging pieces of theatre I’ve seen all year.

Director Pat Kiernan’s tribal-infused interpretation, keening with Mel Mercier’s score and steeled by Paul Keogan’s frosty lights, is both a chilling and hopeful experience. When Garrett Lombard’s jealous king Leontes clashes with Derbhle Crotty’s courtly Paulina we have a stage equivalent of when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object. Both actors give supreme performances. The second half of the play is less memorable (Shakespeare did give this one a strange structure, starting off with road-signs towards a tragedy and then taking a comedy detour)  but is held together by an amiable cast including Ronan Leahy, Mal Whyte, and the always charming Raymond Keane. I have more thoughts on The Winter’s Tale but I think I’m going to save them for my end of year write-ups in December.

What did everybody else think? 

Loose Canon, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream?’: Making An Ass of You and Me

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

May 31-Jun 18

               

My review of Loose Canon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream? coming up just as soon as I have had a most rare vision ...

Second Age, ‘Hamlet’: The Tale of the Two Princes

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

Mar 29-Apr 1

My review of Hamlet coming up just as soon as I beseech you instantly to visit my too much changed son ...

Best of Irish Theatre 2010 #1: Pan Pan, ‘The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane’

Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin

Oct 1-10

Again, if you look through my archive you will find a post on The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane (I’ll be nice and put the link at the bottom of this post).

Pan Pan made not only a really fun production for die-hard theatre buffs with this one, but utilized an ingenious stagecraft as well as a brilliant court of actors who brought endless humour and emotionally moving performances.

From establishing the performers in their personal and professional capacities as they audition for the role of ‘Hamlet’, Gavin Quinn and Pan Pan take us to an Elsinore of mirrored halls and rubbish cans where the impetus to ‘perform’ doesn’t shroud the indefinite natures of the individuals. Instead we are witness to the actors’ abilities to rise to the occasion and make Shakespeare’s masterpiece their own.

What a wonderful cast. Particularly enjoyable was seeing Connor Madden overcome his actor insecurities with a grand feat of athleticism and raw emotion, paying homage to the divine role with charm and skill. Also a highlight was Judith Roddy’s performance as Ophelia, drenched in rubbish and sorrow. Absolutely mesmerizing and gorgeous.

Brilliant show.

As for the best individual performances of the year …

-         Madden and Roddy for Playing the Dane. These guys can captivate an audience single-handedly.

-         Penelope nobles Tadhg Murphy and Niall Buggy. Absolutely incredible work.

 

-         Christ Deliver Us! tragic youths Aoife Duffen and Laurence Kinlan. These kids just break your heart.

-         Little John Nee for Barabbas’s Johnny Patterson the Singing Irish Clown. Much more than just a comic troubadour.

-         Hillary O’Shaughnessy for taking us through her broken city while courageously facing off street punks with the assistance of a guitar-wielding busker in Playgroup’s Berlin Love Tour. She also gave us gummy bears.

Best writing …

-         Kilroy for Christ Deliver Us! and Walsh for Penelope. Both brilliant pieces.

Best direction …

-         Gavin Quinn deserves the trophy for The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane. Garry Hynes brought some epic production values into The Silver Tassie though.

Well that’s 2010 wrapped up (with only a few hours to spare).

See you in the new year folks.

The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane review:

http://musingsinintermissions.blogspot.com/2010/10/pan-pan-rehearsal-playing-dane-bins.html#more

Pan Pan, 'The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane': Bins & Arrows

 The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival has arrived, and now one must choose from what’s on offer. On one hand you may be lured by the colourful spread laid out by international players who don’t visit often, with the exotic appeal of culturally-different, experimental, and physical material. Meanwhile, the enthusiasts of Irish theatre will commit themselves to seeing the who’s who of Irish companies who are also operating on full throttle. 

While I may not be able to afford James Macdonald’s John Gabriel Borkman in the Abbey (which has enough impressive names attached to warrant a national holiday), I did get to see Pan Pan’s The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane. My review of this excellent vivisection of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark right after I read out all my lines consecutively …