This winter, a spectacular reimagining of Jane Austen’s Emma makes its European premiere on the Abbey Stage. 

Centring on the charming, clever, flirtatious, and cunning title character, Emma follows the privileged lives and relationships of individuals from upper-class families in Georgian-Regency England. Skewering social norms of the day, it examines love, desire, class, and the effort it takes to sustain a life of luxury.

Ripping the bodice of tradition, Emma will thrill audiences with modern flourishes, a contemporary soundtrack and a period-but-playful retelling of the classic comedy of manners.  

Adapted by Kate Hamill, Emma is directed by Claire O’Reilly, a Resident Director at the Abbey Theatre in 2022, with a cast of exciting Irish actors to be announced in the coming weeks. 

 Claire O’Reilly  

Claire O’Reilly is an Irish theatre director based between London and Dublin. She is the director of the award-winning, internationally touring, new work collective Malaprop Theatre, and recently directed Hothouse, which won the Best Production Award at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023. Claire was Resident Director at the Abbey Theatre in 2022 and makes her Abbey Stage directorial debut with this not-to-be-missed production of Emma.