An Abbey Theatre and Kiln Theatre co-production
Girl on an Altar
8 July - 19 August 2023
Written by Marina Carr
Directed by Annabelle Comyn
Booking Information
Dates: 8 July – 19 August
On the Abbey Stage
Times: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Sat matinees 2pm
Thurs matinee 10th August, 2pm
Tickets: €13 – €45
Times: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Sat matinee 2pm with an additional matinee at 2pm on Thursday 10th August
Running time: Approx. 2hours and 30 minutes, including interval
Content advice: Please note that this performance contains strobe/flashing lights as well as the use of haze. For specific content advice, please see here.
Sign language interpreted performance: Friday 11 August, 7:30pm
Audio-described and captioned performance: Saturday 19 August, 2:00pm
Touch Tour of Stage and Set: Saturday 19 August, 12:00pm
“Little short of a masterpiece.” Sunday Independent
“Did no one ever tell you the sweetest revenge is to forgive?”
This dramatically powerful portrait of a marriage ripped apart explodes onto the Abbey stage this summer. Marina Carr weaves an intimate portrait of a once unbreakable couple who can’t bring themselves to forgive the past, but can’t live without each other.
A royal couple bound together by love, desire, hate and resentment find themselves and their families caught in the consequences of a terrible act of sacrifice, and the inability of the heart to forgive.
Girl on an Altar was first co-produced in London with the Kiln Theatre in summer 2022, directed by Annabelle Comyn. July 2023 marks the Irish premiere of the critically acclaimed production of this new play by Marina Carr, which is inspired by ‘Agamemnon’ from Aeschylus’ Oresteia.
Returning in their mesmerising leading roles that “turn the royal couple into planets that orbit around one another,” (BroadwayWorld) are Eileen Walsh (Clytemnestra) and David Walmsley (Agamemnon), with a powerful cast.
Programme
To download the show programme, click here.
Schedule update
There will be an additional matinee at 2pm on Thursday 10th of August
Reviews
★★★★
A “searing new play.”
The Irish Times
★★★★
“Epic. Riveting. Audacious.”
The Guardian
“Little short of a masterpiece... A savage Greek tragedy that speaks for womankind.”
Sunday Independent
“It’s all sex and sacrifice.”
Irish Independent
★★★★
“Towering performances.”
The Irish Mail on Sunday
★★★★
“Walsh and Walmsley are magnetic throughout and Carr’s words are a delight to hear.”
Evening Standard
★★★★
“Annabelle Comyn’s mesmerising staging draws you into a claustrophobic household seething with desire, damage and resentment.”
Financial Times
★★★★
“Girl on an Altar is as much a royal kitchen sink drama as it is a commentary on the politics of grief. Carr’s narrative skills are enthralling and lend themselves to a great modern adaptation, which Comyn directs with magnetic flair.”
Broadway World
“Intensely tragic and suspenseful, Girl on an Altar is brilliantly and relentlessly dramatic: a stunning and important act of contemporary theatre.”
LondonTheatre1
“A magnetism so electric it grips you from start to finish... A must-see.”
The Irish Post
Credits
- Aegisthus: Daon Broni
- Tyndareus: Jim Findley
- Cassandra: Pattie Maguire
- Cilissa: Aoibhéann McCann
- Agamemnon: David Walmsley
- Clytemnestra: Eileen Walsh
- Writer: Marina Carr
- Director: Annabelle Comyn
- Set and Costume Designer: Tom Piper
- Lighting Designer: Amy Mae
- Composer and Sound Designer: Philip Stewart
- Projection Designer: Will Duke
- Original Movement and Intimacy Director: Ingrid MacKinnon
- Dublin Movement and Intimacy Director: Sue Mythen
- Hair and Makeup: Leonard Daly
- Associate Lighting Designer: Kevin McFadden
- Voice Director: Andrea Ainsworth, Cathal Quinn
- Original Casting: Julia Horan CDG
- Dublin Casting: Sarah Jones
- Producer: Craig Flaherty
- Production Manager: Andy Keogh
- Company Manager: Danny Erskine
- Company Stage Manager: Clive Welsh
- Deputy Stage Manager: Tara Furlong
- Assistant Stage Manager: Leanne Vaughey
- Costume Supervisor: Síofra Ní Chiardha
- Producing Assistant: Aoife McCollum
- Technical Production Co-ordinator: Justin Murphy
