DUBLIN, 27.05.21 – Graham McLaren and Neil Murray, Directors of the Abbey Theatre said: “After a year of primarily solo performances that helped us to safely employ over 600 artists, we are now returning to live theatre productions, with ensembles of actors working together from our stages. Presented in a new format for the Abbey, audiences will be able to watch these pieces streamed live from the Abbey auditorium to their homes. We have developed this format to be flexible enough to allow a live audience (should restrictions allow), at the same time as live streaming. As theatres, hopefully, begin to open again over the coming months, this flexibility will ensure our work continues to be widely available to audiences across the country. We are really proud to bring audiences these wonderful new plays from Una McKevitt and Rosaleen McDonagh – two Irish playwrights both making their Abbey stage debuts.”
One Good Turn – Una McKevitt’s comic new play – brings us a family on the brink, who are keeping the show on the road any which way they can. Brenda wants Frank to do his exercises, Aoife wants to go to a wedding of all things, Fiona doesn’t know what she wants and Frank is looking for the gun. Directed by Emma Jordan, One Good Turn will be streamed live from the Abbey stage on 25th and 26th June. It will be available on-demand until 10th July.
Walls and Windows is a new play from Rosaleen McDonagh. This tender, complex and beautiful love story examines how external circumstances pull us apart, when all we really want is to be together. All Julia and John want is to live their lives with their two sons, on their own terms. But despite their hopes, the outside world and its racism put paid to their plans. Directed by Jason Byrne, Walls and Windows will be live streamed from the Abbey stage on 27th and 28th August. It will be available on demand until 11th September.
The two world premieres are part of Graham McLaren and Neil Murray’s final season of programming as Directors of the Abbey Theatre. Further details of their final programme, which will run until the end of 2021, will be announced over the coming weeks and months, as restrictions around attendance capacities become clear.
Graham McLaren and Neil Murray continued: “We’ve been busy finalising a full programme, that extends into the winter months of 2021. While we would have loved to share details of the whole season in advance of our departure in early July, we have decided to announce the rest of the programme closer to their run dates. This is to ensure each project can be aligned with the most up to date guidelines in terms of audience sizes and safety measures for live theatre attendance.”
Live stream and on-demand tickets for One Good Turn and Walls and Windows are on sale now.
