A peace process thriller, the DUP opera and countless cuppas: Belfast’s Lyric theatre at 75 by Helen Meany

What began as a tiny space above the founder’s stables became the beating heart of the city’s performing arts. Its leader Jimmy Fay reflects on recent hits and reveals what audiences can…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:00am on April 29, 2026[SHARE]

Do You Come from Gomorrah? review " Frank McGuinness's blistering portrait of abuse and prejudice by Helen Meany

Abbey, DublinAn unnamed narrator recollects a 1970s childhood of institutional brutality and sectarianism in this allusive memory play Language is twisted and slippery in Frank McGuinness di…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:06am on April 20, 2026[SHARE]

The Plough and the Stars review " Seán O'Casey's Dublin drama hits 100 with haunting staging by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinDirector Tom Creed brings this 1926 political classic into the present, with a tremendous cast navigating the tonal switch from comedy into tragedy Marking the centenary…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:42pm on March 9, 2026[SHARE]

Fair Deal review " family ties are pushed to the limit in fizzing black comedy by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinThe sale of the parental home triggers a generational showdown in Una McKevitt's droll play about money, inheritance and caring for ageing relatives On a brief stopover …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:06pm on February 19, 2026[SHARE]

Dublin Gothic review " epic 'losers' history' of the city traces 100 years of family life by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinBarbara Bergin's tale follows four families through strikes in the slums, the Easter Rising, the early years of independence and the HIV-Aids crisis of the 1980s In Barb…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:18am on January 7, 2026[SHARE]

Denouement review " darkly funny reckoning with relationship dystopia by Helen Meany

Lyric, BelfastAnna Healy and Patrick O'Kane give nuanced performances as a volatile, long-married couple bunkered in a cottage that's being slowly engulfed by fire It is difficult to concent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:18am on October 27, 2025[SHARE]

My Right Foot review " wryly humorous look at life with a terminal illness by Helen Meany

Axis Ballymun, DublinMixing childhood memories, songs and Shakespeare, Michael Patrick delivers a one-man show about the reality of being given four years to live Michael Patrick may not liv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:02am on October 10, 2025[SHARE]

Poor review " adaptation of Katriona O'Sullivan's memoir is rich in spirit by Helen Meany

Gate theatre, DublinO'Sullivan's account of a childhood and early adulthood marked by poverty, addiction and abuse is made into an at times affectingly raw play by Sonya Kelly 'To me, aged …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:24am on October 6, 2025[SHARE]

The Boy/The God and His Daughter review " Marina Carr's majestic Theban double bill by Helen Meany

Abbey, DublinTwo new plays reimagine Sophocles and Euripides with lavish scale, mordant humour and fresh interrogation of power and prophecy 'We are the new gods," Oedipus, King of Thebes, d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:02am on October 4, 2025[SHARE]

'We wondered if it was ethical to adapt it': can poetry about deaf resistance wow theatre audiences? by Helen Meany

Deaf Republic, a collection of war poems written by the Ukrainian American Ilya Kaminsky, have caused a sensation. Now they have been turned into an extraordinary play In Vasenka, a fictiona…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54pm on August 12, 2025[SHARE]

Riders to the Sea / Macbeth review " intense double bill linked by elemental forces of nature by Helen Meany

Mick Lally theatre, GalwayTo mark their 50th anniversary, Druid Theatre Company pair Shakespeare with JM Synge's stark one-act tragedy Marking 50 years of exceptional theatre-making, Druid T…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:48am on July 20, 2025[SHARE]

Oh … review " underwater piano playing serves up a skilful aquarium spectacle by Helen Meany

Atlantaquaria, GalwayMikel Murfi enters the three-metre-high glass tank to lift weights, look lost and direct fishy traffic It is hard to tell what the fish make of Mikel Murfi's intrusion i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24am on July 18, 2025[SHARE]

The Cave review " dark-humoured tale of brothers' emotional descent by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinTommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan are given comedic free rein as a pair of hapless, homeless siblings in Kevin Barry's Beckettian take on rural dysfunction The hapless Mc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:32am on June 16, 2025[SHARE]

Hothouse review " exuberantly inventive cruise trip across the climate crisis by Helen Meany

Project Arts Centre, DublinWith parts for imperilled creatures including dancing orange songbirds, this vision of environmental collapse wraps serious intent in absurdity Aboard the Crystal …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:12am on April 18, 2025[SHARE]

Our New Girl review " Irish nanny triggers mayhem in gruellingly tense domestic noir by Helen Meany

Lyric, BelfastNancy Harris, the writer of acclaimed dark comedy The Dry, reveals her early mastery of family power games in this taut new production of her 2012 play that feels fresh and rel…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12am on April 14, 2025[SHARE]

Men's Business review " a night of extreme nihilism, offal and frequent awkward sex by Helen Meany

Glass Mask theatre, DublinSimon Stephens's update of Franz Kroetz's stark 1972 play sees butcher Charlie and welder Victor amid knives and flanks of meat, the threat of violence palpable In …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:42am on February 17, 2025[SHARE]

Emma review " a Regency comedy as light as a pillow fight by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinSet in a nonspecific Austenland inspired more by Hollywood than history, this is an energetic, puppyish production that is easy to like Handsome, clever and rich Emma Wo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:36am on December 2, 2024[SHARE]

Enda Walsh delivers a five-star dazzler and Forced Entertainment make mischief at Dublin theatre festival by Helen Meany

Safe House is a haunting song cycle by Walsh and Anna Mullarkey while the experimental company's Signal to Noise pushes language to breaking point In a Dublin theatre festival programme jamm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24pm on October 9, 2024[SHARE]

The Map of Argentina review " magnetic, messy affairs of the heart by Helen Meany

An Taibhdhearc, GalwayCharacters suffer as they make painful choices between duty and desire in the premiere of Marina Carr's play The title throws a wild card into the mix in Marina Carr's …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:24am on July 22, 2024[SHARE]

Somnium review " Philomela's violent tale told with ethereal artistry by Helen Meany

Bank of Ireland theatre, GalwayDirector James Riordan blends ancient ritual and modern technology, while the music of Julianna Bloodgood is compelling Ethereal sound and imagery transform a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:18am on July 21, 2024[SHARE]

Unspeakable Conversations review " Liz Carr and Mat Fraser's straight talk is enthralling by Helen Meany

Mick Lally theatre, GalwayPlaying a disability rights lawyer and the philosopher Peter Singer, as well as themselves, the actors deliver a powerful production A remarkable real-life encounte…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:02pm on July 19, 2024[SHARE]

Circle Mirror Transformation review " Annie Baker's drama class is a lesson in power-play by Helen Meany

Gate theatre, DublinDirected by Róisín McBrinn, this 2009 play is an absorbing study of group dynamics, deepened by intricate dialogue and superb acting Six weeks is a long time in the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:02pm on May 31, 2024[SHARE]

The Pull of the Stars review " Emma Donoghue adapts her Spanish flu novel for an all-female cast by Helen Meany

Gate Theatre, DublinSet in a 1918 maternity ward, the play offers moments of tenderness amid its commentary on political and social upheaval A pandemic exposes deep social injustices in Emma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:24am on April 14, 2024[SHARE]

Audrey or Sorrow review " darkly comic tale of ghosts and grief by Helen Meany

Abbey, DublinThe black humour gets grimmer as two parents grieve the sudden death of their baby and a disturbing family history emerges There are three kinds of sorrow, one character explain…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:48am on March 3, 2024[SHARE]

Krapp's Last Tape review " Stephen Rea is hauntingly good in Beckett's masterpiece by Helen Meany

Project Arts Centre, DublinThere isn't a hint of sentimentality in Vicky Featherstone's delicately calibrated production of Samuel Beckett's monologue about mortality Making his annual tape …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:36am on January 19, 2024[SHARE]