Our Five Year Strategy

As a National Cultural Institution, the Abbey Theatre exists to deliver unique, memorable, challenging experiences for audiences. We want to reflect and nurture Ireland’s artists in all their diversity, by making and presenting the broadest possible range of theatre.

Our 2019 – 2023 Strategy has three interconnected Strands:

1. Art & Audience, which are inextricably linked and at the heart of why the Abbey Theatre exists.

2. Internationalisation & Investment, which play a critical role in ensuring the Abbey Theatre can deliver fully on its mission, abroad as well as at home.

3. People & Processes, whose development will underpin and enable delivery of the Strategy.

Under each strand we identify and outline the Abbey Theatre’s Goals for 2019-2023.

This Strategy enshrines the organisation’s ongoing pledge to ensure that equality, and specifically gender equality, and diversity remain at the heart of the Abbey Theatre’s plans and all its activities. This commitment applies to every aspect of the Theatre’s operations – from art and audience, to outreach and education, workforce planning and development, income generation and financial sustainability.

The Strategy ensures a consistent focus on new work, providing space and time to support artistic exploration and experimentation, alongside the Theatre’s relationship with established Irish playwrights and artists. Furthermore, the Theatre’s commitment to new approaches and interpretations of the rich Irish theatre repertoire is a core part of our vision.

The Abbey Theatre’s success is predicated upon its people and their individual and collective roles in driving this Strategy. Their pivotal contributions will be articulated in the internal plans which will drive the achievement of our goals over the duration of the Strategy.

The Strategy covers a period that will see the theatre begin a long overdue, landmark project – planning for and building the new Abbey Theatre. Consequently, income generation and the maximisation of all possible revenue streams will be vital given the project’s scope and scale.

The new Theatre will provide a fit-for-purpose, state-of-the-art workplace for artists and employees, allowing them to achieve excellence and follow best practice in all their activities. Importantly, this development also opens up further opportunities for touring and international activity, aligning with the Theatre’s ambitious outlook for its artists and audiences, and its contribution to Ireland’s Cultural Policy.

Read our full Five Year Strategy (2019 – 2023)