50 Irish Writers with 50 Irish Actors – Abbey Theatre

I’d like to let you all know about an incredible online project by Ireland’s national Abbey Theatre. The Abbey commissioned writers from Ireland, with unique additional contributions from the USA, China, and Italy, to each write a monologue to be performed by 50 actors and then streamed on YouTube. It will be presented over four evenings, starting April 28th. I’ll be watching, and I’m eager to hear your reactions.

In addition, Cyprus Avenue, a co-production of the Abbey and Royal Court, continues through April 26th. I just watched it — it is quite powerful, and not for the faint-of-heart! And from the famous Druid theatre in Galway are two JM Synge plays. Details about all of these online shows is below.

I miss seeing you all at the theatre! At Corrib, we are working to prepare for our next season, so that we can be poised for a strong return when it’s safe to gather again.

I was brought up on a farm in Ireland and remember when the concept of leaving the land fallow sunk into my brain. It seemed like a waste to have the soil plowed and primed but sitting idle, until I realized that this was a prelude to future fertility. My hope is that our post-COVID world will be one of renewed commitment to equity, and the arts will be richer and even more relevant to all. We will be back! In the meantime, stay safe.

– Gemma Whelan, Artistic Director

Each writer nominated one actor to perform their piece, and the actors are self-taping their performances from social isolation.

What do we want to be to one another?
What do we want our society to look like?
What are we not paying enough attention to?
Where do we want to go next?

What should Ireland write on a postcard to itself?

Starring Stephen Rea and directed by Vicky Featherstone, the award-winning Cyprus Avenue was originally coproduced by the Royal Court Theatre, London and Abbey Theatre, Dublin before touring to The MAC in Belfast and the Public Theater in New York.

Eric Miller (Stephen Rea) is a Belfast Loyalist. He is experiencing a psychotic episode and mistakes his five-week old granddaughter for Gerry Adams. Generations of sectarian trauma convince him that his cultural heritage is under siege. He must act.

This hard hitting black comedy Cyprus Avenue tells the story of a man struggling with the past and terrified of the future. It was awarded Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the James Tait Black Prize for Drama in 2017. For his portrayal of Eric, Stephen Rea won Best Actor at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017.

Content Warning: Cyprus Avenue contains strong language, discussion of sectarian themes, and scenes of extreme violence that some viewers may find disturbing.

The Abbey Theatre was founded as a national theatre for Ireland by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904.

The Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, London, “is at the forefront of creating restless, alert, provocative theatre about now.”

A one-act tragedy, Riders of the Sea is set on the Aran Island, Inishmaan, and like all of Synge’s plays it is noted for capturing the poetic dialogue of rural Ireland. The plot is based not on the traditional conflict of human wills but on the hopeless struggle of a people against the impersonal but relentless cruelty of the sea.

Synge’s great comic masterpiece tells the story of Christy Mahon, who stumbles into a public house in County Mayo claiming he has killed his father and so capturing the romantic attention of the daughter of the house, Pegeen Mike.

Druid was founded in Galway in 1975 by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen, and Mick Lally and was the first professional Irish theatre company outside of Dublin.