Audrey or Sorrow review – darkly comic tale of ghosts and grief
The black humour gets grimmer in Marina Carr’s latest play as two parents grieve the sudden death of their baby and a disturbing family history emerges
October 2023
Dublin theatre festival goes from Quaker reflections to high-speed romance
This year’s shows include a meditative new play from Janet Moran and an ironic variation on the romcom by Nancy Harris
July 2023
Lie Low review – disturbing consent comedy plays with expectations
Taking an absurdist approach to sexual consent and false memory, this polished play shifts disarmingly from spiky humour to tense confrontation
June 2023
The best theatre to stream this month
The best theatre to stream this month: Blues for An Alabama Sky, Macbeth and more
Our roundup of drama to enjoy at home includes the National Theatre’s Pearl Cleage revival and David Tennant taking on the Scottish king for the first time
October 2022
Joyce’s Women review – Edna O’Brien offers a fresh view on her literary hero
O’Brien’s new play about her literary hero, imagining James Joyce through the eyes of the women in his life, is the hot ticket in Dublin
September 2022
Joyce’s Women review – Edna O’Brien’s powerful play is a fascinating portrait of a fellow writer
O’Brien’s empathy for Joyce shines through in this lavish production, as she brings him to life, seen through the eyes of his mother, wife, daughter and lover
May 2022
Luck Just Kissed You Hello review – scorching truth-telling in deathbed drama
Wayne Jordan directs a sombre revival of Amy Conroy’s play exploring gender identity and family dynamics
March 2022
X’ntigone review – culture wars rage before Freedom Day in Thebes
The political intrigues muddy the drama of conscience but this is a sleek futuristic staging of Sophocles’ tragedy, adapted by Darren Murphy
February 2022
Portia Coughlan review – blistering birthday tragedy of self-destruction
Denise Gough plays out Portia’s bleak 30th, defined by family resentments, misogyny and the spectral presence of her dead twin, in this disturbing drama
January 2022
Every Brilliant Thing review – ode to life’s joys is candid and compassionate
With a jazzy soundtrack and heaps of audience participation, this pared-back production manages to find light in the darkness of depression
December 2021
Faith Healer review – Aidan Gillen is mercurial and mysterious in Brian Friel’s classic
Gillen, Niamh Cusack and Nigel Lindsay deliver haunting monologues in director Joe Dowling’s affectingly sombre production
October 2021
Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks review – bold mix of sacred and profane
Sarah Hanly embodies a range of characters in her punchy debut play that explores the pressures on teenagers
September 2021
Lockdown culture
Walls and Windows review – a moving, unsentimental Travellers’ tale
Rosaleen McDonagh’s play, an unsettling love story set in a Traveller community, has the ring of truthfulness
June 2021
Lockdown culture
One Good Turn review – everyday questions of love and mortality
Una McKevitt’s droll domestic drama shows us a day in the life of a family dealing with the ill health of an ageing father
August 2020
Lockdown culture
This Beautiful Virtual Village review – drama that rages like a Twitter pile-on
Neighbours clash over racism and sexism in the Abbey theatre’s virtual production of Lisa Tierney-Keogh’s highly topical drama
May 2020
Lockdown culture
Up close and sensational: the best monologues made during lockdown
From love triangles and explosive lust to the bond between mothers and daughters, performers step into the relationships minefield
February 2020
Watergate meets His Girl Friday: Irish news caper The Fall of the Second Republic
A vaudeville thriller set around a Dublin newspaper in 1973 uses knockabout humour to parallel modern-day geopolitics
September 2019
This Beautiful Village review – sexist graffiti sparks power games
Abbey, Dublin Only those with the most righteous anger will triumph, in this small-town play about wider societal issues.
May 2019
Citysong review – Dublin shimmers in poetic celebration of the cycle of life
A versatile cast and evocative setting bring to life Dylan Coburn Gray’s award-winning script, which follows a taxi driver’s journey through an eclectic Dublin family
January 2019
Stage of the nation: what does it mean to be a national theatre?
The national theatres of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have all caused a stir about what they represent. How should they reflect a country’s identity?
