Spreading the News will celebrate and honour the founding notion that the Abbey Theatre was established as an experiment, a fundamental idea that continues to inform the work of the theatre today.

The event is named after the play of the same name, written by Abbey Theatre co-founder Augusta Gregory, and performed on the opening night of the theatre.

The event will be led by a company of well-known Irish artists who have performed in the theatre over the years. They will play a range of scripts, characters and speeches, embracing the groundbreaking stories, work and performances that have been at the heart of the National Theatre of Ireland since its foundation, and will be accompanied by live music.

Presented in partnership with RTÉ, the event will be recorded in front of a live audience and broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 at 6pm on Friday, 27^th December, 120 years to the day since the theatre opened in 1904.