# Play
This month
May 2023
Voices
Analysis: Behan wrote his columns like a garrulous, gregarious personality commanding attention
Professor John Brannigan of UCD says the late writer’s column for The Irish Press showed a Dublin marked by distinctive speech patterns and cultural habits.
Last year
2022
# no magic pill
'This is not inspiration porn': Groundbreaking look at life of disability activist Martin Naughton
The play’s writer, Christian O’Reilly, calls Naughton ‘the Michael Collins’ of disability activism.
Voices
Opinion: My play about adoption reflects on my family and families like us
Playwright Dylan Coburn Gray outlines the reasons why he wrote his new play, opening at the Fringe.
Voices
Taryn de Vere: Dressing up as household objects reminded me of the importance of being playful
The artist looks back at her month-long #ObjectDressChallenge and shares the lessons she’s learned.
All time
# Schools
40% of teachers concerned about how play-based lessons will be affected by Covid-19 restrictions
That’s according to a new study published by DCU researchers.
# out of the ordinary
The mental health-based play that's literally being performed in a Croke Park dressing room
Alan Bradley chats to The42 about ‘Grounds for Concern’.
# electrolyte
A journey through music, youth culture and loss is coming to Ballymun
A new work opens tonight in the Axis theatre.
Voices
'Heroin in Ireland is an economic massacre - we have to find a new solution'
Grace Dyas and Rachael Keogh – author of Dying To Survive – want their new play about heroin to spark change in Ireland.
# challenging perceptions
'People always say my dad is amazing. He's not, he's just blind'
A new play aims to challenge perceptions about people with disabilities.
# Theatre
Ruth Negga to play Hamlet in new Gate Theatre production
Negga will play the title role in the upcoming production, which is directed by Yaël Farber.
# delinquent season
'It can happen because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time': A movie about 'good people' having an affair
Writer and director Mark O’Rowe’s latest film is the next chapter in a diverse and lauded career.
'The Celtic Tiger was ridiculous - it was a moment that needed to be dramatised'
We talk to Isobel Mahon, the writer and star of the play Boom?, which looks at boom-time Ireland.
# i live here now
'I was in mortgage arrears - so I sold my possessions and became a reluctant landlord'
Veronica Dyas explores her experience, and the situation with housing in Ireland, in her latest play.
# whitby
How a former Riverdance star is turning Dracula into a mysterious stranger
A new play premiering next week ignores the usual Dracula tropes, making the story even more eerie.
# Dublin oldschool
Noticed the cameras around town? They're for the upcoming movie about a drug-fuelled weekend in Dublin
The movie follows Jason on a wild weekend odyssey through the streets of the capital.
# Same old same old
Bill Murray goes to see Groundhog Day then he goes to see it again the next day
But will he be seen at it again tonight is the question.
# Kerry Bill
'A small town in a big moment in time' - How Ballybunion got a statue of Bill Clinton
The story of Clinton’s 1998 visit is being immortalised on the Dublin stage in A Statue For Bill Clinton.
# Stabbing
Sponsors drop play for depicting Julius Caesar as Trump
Delta Air Lines and Bank of America were not impressed by the portrayal.
# minding frankie
For the first time, a Maeve Binchy novel will be performed on the stage
Minding Frankie is coming to the Gaiety Theatre this June for two weeks only.
# the curse
Polish prosecutors investigate play that features sex scenes with statue of Saint John Paul II
The Roman Catholic Church in Poland has slammed the play as being “blasphemous”.
# Kings of Kilburn
Play remembers the "forgotten generation" of Irish men who emigrated to London
We speak to an actor in the play about its importance.
# Tickets please
Drag, dance and George Bush: 9 shows to catch at the Tiger Dublin Fringe
We’ve had a look through the programme and picked some of the best shows.
# Eggsistentialism
Pressure, obsession and confusion: Turning 35 and deciding whether or not to have a child
Playwright Joanne Ryan said that there can be huge pressure for women to become a mother, adding that it can be ‘wound up in the identity’ of being a woman.
# finem respice
'Death comes to us all': This new play wants people to talk about their grief
Vickey Curtis lost three important women in her life: her mother, friend and granny.
# Poland
Catholic protesters arrested outside theatre staging explicit play
The play is based on the work of a Nobel Prize winning writer.
# Shipwrecked
A Limerick cabinboy was once eaten by his shipmates...
Now a new musical has been written about what happened.
# Addiction
Mother describes how one of her twins turned his life around after heroin killed his brother
“You have choices in life and you sink and swim and as a family we choose to swim.”
# Carrickmines
"We're going 'mother of God, how are we going to survive in this country?'"
Actor Michael Collins speaks to us about Traveller life in Ireland, and his latest role.
# The Cursed Child
The Harry Potter plays are NOT prequels - they're going to be about his son
And some tickets will be really cheap.
Voices
'By getting on that train a group of brave women made the Catholic Church and the Irish state look ridiculous'
Playwright Arthur Riordan explains how two men go about writing a musical about feminism.
# Dublin
Girl (11) awarded €35k in damages after getting finger trapped in seat
The girl’s hand became trapped while she was at a play.
# on the stage
Oedipus? He's not just a guy who married his mother...
The Sophocles play is getting a new outing on the Abbey stage. Its director and musical director tell us what to expect.
# drone warfare
Meet the pregnant F-16 fighter flying drones in the Las Vegas desert
She’s the main character in one-woman show Grounded, in the Tiger Fringe this month.
# by the bog of cats
The Abbey theatre stage has been transformed into an icy bog for this dark play
It’s all for the performance of a Marina Carr play.
# hidden history
The true tale of the Irish rugby players killed in World War I
Pals – The Irish at Gallipoli tells their story.
# In the dark
People are going to climb for two hours up Ben Bulben to watch a Yeats play
And it’s all in the name of a very good cause
# Deadly
This gripping play about knife crime in Dublin wants to get people talking
It’s about young men, Irish society, and what leads them to violence.
# who is hedda gabler
"She could set the world alight - but she’s not allowed, so she sets fire to people’s hair"
Actress Catherine Walker talks about playing Hedda Gabler.
# the man who fell to earth
David Bowie is writing a musical with Irish playwright Enda Walsh
*books tickets immediately*
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