Top row, left to right: Kevin Barry, Barbara Bergin, Marina Carr. Bottom row, left to right: Carys D. Coburn, Caitríona Daly. Jimmy McAleavey. Illustrations by Louise Boughton.
Chun an leathanach seo a léamh i nGaeilge, cliceáil anseo.
Foregrounding the best of new Irish playwriting, six world premieres from playwrights Kevin Barry, Barbara Bergin, Marina Carr, Carys D. Coburn, Caitríona Daly and Jimmy McAleavey are set for the Abbey and Peacock Stages. Considered epic for the intention of their ideas and the ambition of their expression, each work captures the innate heroism of the human experience, of the will to survive and to remain resilient amidst the ordinary and extraordinary events of life:
The Cave, written by Kevin Barry and directed by Caitríona McLaughlin, featuring Tommy Tiernan with further cast to be announced.
Friday, 6th June – Friday, 18th July on the Abbey Stage.
We meet the McRae brothers in a dead zone in the mountains of south county Sligo. Sleeping rough in a cave and in trouble with the law, Archie and Bopper are running out of road. This desperate pair have only each other to rely on as they try to restart their van, their lives and their WiFi connection. The Cave is an unforgettable black comedy from the pen of one of Ireland’s most beloved writers.
Static, written by Jimmy McAleavey and directed by John King.
Friday, 20th June – Friday, 18th July on the Peacock Stage.
A veteran US astronaut is about to land back on Earth after completing his very last space flight. A lonely ham radio operator in Donegal is surfing frequencies in want of some company. This unlikely pair of conversationalists collide with life altering consequences. A lyrical, searching play about isolation and the painful contradictions that surface when people try to connect.
The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4, written by Caitríona Daly and directed by Raymond Keane.
Thursday, 31st July – Saturday, 6th September on the Peacock Stage.
In the Irish offices of a fund management firm, three employees have the duration of their lunch hour to determine how best to spend the balance of their company’s annual Corporate Social Responsibility budget. Behind a locked door and out of sight of management, the task escalates into an increasingly outlandish and hilarious debate revealing secret passions and uncomfortable truths. In this bizarre, humorous and insightful new play, Caitríona Daly explores power structures, escapism and resistance.
The Boy, written by Marina Carr and directed by Caitríona McLaughlin.
Monday, 15th September – Saturday, 1st November on the Abbey Stage.
A radical, brave and contemporary interpretation of Sophocles’ Theban Trilogy of Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. This hotly anticipated theatre experience delivers an evocative, unmistakably Irish account of the epic Greek myth told across two plays from the Abbey Theatre’s Senior Associate Playwright. The Boy continues Carr’s vivid conversation with the foundations of modern drama. We are delighted that The Boy will be part of the 2025 Dublin Theatre Festival programme.
BÁN, written by Carys D. Coburn and directed by Claire O’Reilly.
Tuesday, 30th September – Saturday, 8th November on the Peacock Stage.
A reworking of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, BÁN is faithful but not close. Like the sisters at its heart – bound tightly, neither open nor tender, mourning their father, surveilled by their mother. They long for escape, power, the local eligible bachelor. The question isn’t who can have which, it’s can any of them have any? BÁN isn’t simply mapping Franco’s Spain onto de Valera’s Ireland – Catholic Fascism=Catholic Fascism=duh. It’s speaking to anywhen who denial kept alive, but who then wished it hadn’t. (Not exclusively Irish, but VERY Irish.) It’s raw and raucous; dark but not unduly despairing; loving but not unduly merciful. BÁN was recently nominated for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and we are delighted that it will be a part of the 2025 Dublin Theatre Festival programme.
Dublin Gothic, written by Barbara Bergin and directed by Caroline Byrne.
Friday, 21st November – Saturday, 31st January on the Abbey Stage.
Dublin Gothic is a loser’s history, told through a joyous pastiche of literary styles. This extraordinary tragicomedy by debut playwright Barbara Bergin follows three generations of residents in one Dublin 1 house across a century of societal upheaval. Set against the backdrop of a transforming city and teeming with Dublin wit and character, let this glorious collection of endearing and dastardly locals entertain you as they struggle to keep the only thing they have to lose: the roof over their heads.
The Boy and Dublin Gothic, along with the highly anticipated new production of Mary Manning’s Youth’s the Season – ?, will mark the completion of The Gregory Project, launched in 2023, and realising the Abbey’s ambition to celebrate the trailblazing legacy of Augusta Gregory.
The Cave, Static, The Lunch Punch Hour in Conference Room 4, and BÁN will be on sale from 1pm today. The Boy and Dublin Gothic will be on sale in coming weeks.
Commenting, Co-Director and Artistic Director Caitríona McLaughlin said: “Irish writing across all forms, seems to be in a period of flowering right now and receiving renewed recognition at home and internationally. This can be seen in literature, poetry and film, and theatre is no exception. The six playwrights whose work will appear on our stages throughout 2025 represent an assortment of thrilling voices in Irish playwriting today. While they stand on the shoulders of all those playwrights who have gone before them at the National Theatre of Ireland, they write in an utterly contemporary and inimitable register. Our audiences will witness real newness, a true freshness of ideas and expression, on our stages in the coming year. These playwrights are provocative and challenging without telling us what to think, they give us space to consider and reflect on stories we need to hear right now, stories about survival, resilience and our humanity.
The epic journeys of theatre-making and playwrighting continue to build legacy with the plays that we have programmed, marking another significant moment in the great tradition of Irish playwriting. This programme is propelled by the past but is distinctly of the present.”
While foregrounding its new plays and playwrights with this announcement and celebrating these works of scale and ambition, this list of work is by no means exhaustive. Beyond the National Theatre of Stories announced today, the Abbey Theatre’s broader body of work this year includes:
- The hotly anticipated return of Oona Doherty to the Abbey Stage with Specky Clark, co-produced and presented by the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Dance Festival.
- Presenting a full-scale opera from Irish National Opera on the Abbey Stage later in 2025.
- The transfer of the critically and popularly acclaimed Abbey Theatre production SAFE HOUSE by Enda Walsh and Anna Mullarkey to Berlin’s Schaubühne as part of its prestigious FIND festival.
- A North American tour of the Abbey Theatre and Tom Moran co-production, Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar, as the award-winning show continues to find new audiences worldwide since returning from Australia.
- Further readings as part of the Abbey’s Love at First Sight series, which debuted last year.
Co-Director of the Abbey Theatre, Executive Director Mark O’Brien added: “We are delighted to announce this dynamic programme that takes us into 2026. Alongside the launch of our 2025-2030 strategy and our revitalised brand, it represents a moment of further renewal as we head into the year’s brighter days, looking forward to the future as the National Theatre of Ireland.
“We would like to thank the Arts Council for their continued support of the work of the National Theatre of Ireland and look forward to working with them in our shared advocacy for the Abbey Theatre and for the theatre sector as a whole. We would like to thank our individual and corporate patrons who share our belief in the transformative power of theatre and the living legacy of Irish storytelling, by their increasing support of the Abbey Theatre.”
The Abbey Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of
The Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
