Eileen Walsh and Risteárd Cooper among stars who turned out for Dancing at Lughnasa opening night
The Gate Theatre production of Brien Friel's classic is running at the 3Olympia Theatre until July 26.
It is the first time a Gate Theatre production has transferred to the 3Olympia in 35 years.
The last show to do so was a version of Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock in 1990.
Eileen Walsh attended the production of Brian Friel's masterpiece Dancing at Lughnasa at 3Olympia Theatre (Pics: Rolling News)
"We are thrilled to rekindle our historic relationship with the Olympia Theatre", said Gate Theatre Executive Director Colm O'Callaghan ahead of the show's opening.
"Our strategic vision is that of an 'Open Gate' where everyone has access to great theatre, and playing to 3Olympia's summer audiences is a great way to help us realise this and to expand our audience."
Risteard Cooper pictured with daughters Sadhbh and Nora at the opening night
O'Callaghan added: "Collaborating with 3Olympia also means that our own stage is available to deliver on other key strategic goals such as premiering contemporary international plays."
This week stars were out in force to watch the show, including Cork native Walsh, Dublin born Cooper, costume designer Joan Bergin and television presenter Maia Dunphy.
TV presenter Maia Dunphy attended the opening night performance
The critically acclaimed production is directed by Caroline Byrne, with a cast that features Lauren Farrell, Peter Gowen and Pauline Hutton.
Set in Friel's fictional town of Ballybeg in Donegal in 1936, the story follows the lives of the five Mundy sisters.
The award-winning costume designer Joan Bergin was also in attendance
The play originally premiered in 1990 at Dublin's Abbey Theatre.
A revival at the National Theatre in London in 2023 featured Ardal O'Hanlon and Siobhán McSweeney.
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Irish Times
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The Pillowman, at the Gate Theatre: ‘Another level of dark, even for Martin McDonagh'
Martin McDonagh 's The Pillowman, a chilling fable of two brothers embroiled in a criminal investigation, has more relevance today than ever, according to Fra Fee . The actor plays Katurian, the accused writer at the heart of this darkly comic tale of censorship and artistic licence, which is about to open at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. The play was first performed in 2003, at the National Theatre in London, where David Tennant took on the role of Katurian, who is being interrogated in a totalitarian state about a series of child murders that bear an eerie resemblance to the killings in his stories. 'Of course censorship has always been a thing, but I find it extraordinary that this predates cancel culture, as it were, which is just so, so prevalent, and people are afraid to say anything, and art is very much edited on a big level,' Fee says. READ MORE 'The timing of putting it on is pretty cool, because I think it's Martin's way of going, 'Stories are important, and we learn through stories, and we have to be able to tell stories in the way that they're originally designed'.' The play is 'another level of dark, even for Martin McDonagh'. 'He really leans into it in a delicious way. I just thought I absolutely have to do this,' says Fee, whose character's brother, Michal, is being played by his fellow northerner Ryan Dylan , in a production directed by the Olivier winner Lyndsey Turner. For Fee, whose last project was the Bafta-nominated BBC series Lost Boys and Fairies, The Pillowman is 'a homecoming of sorts', as a decade ago the actor played Romeo in the Gate's production of Romeo and Juliet . Martin McDonagh, whose play The Pillowman is being staged in Dublin. Photograph: Todd Heisler/The New York Times But for his costar, who was one of the writers and stars of the comedy Funboys – also on the BBC – earlier this year, it's his stage debut. 'Most of the time I'm freaking out,' Dylan says in a room backstage at the Gate , before their first full run-through of the play. 'The first three weeks I was freaking out – just, like, 'I can't believe I'm here, can't believe I'm doing this,' so I was taking it very seriously, locking in. I was, like, 'Don't laugh. Don't laugh.' In the last week or two I'm really starting to enjoy everyone's company and ... it settles in.' 'I had no idea,' Fee says, laughing. Dylan calls The Pillowman a miserably good play. 'I remember reading the script and going, 'Aw, God, that's just really upsetting.' I do a lot of sketches up north, and I do play a lot of crazy characters, eccentrics and Michal-adjacent characters,' he says. 'Lyndsey is so good. She's just so conscientious and supportive and intelligent. 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[ Low lie the Fields of Peckham Rye: Martin McDonagh and the London Irish Opens in new window ] The Pillowman deals with weighty themes – after Michal implicates Katurian in the murders, for example, his brother resigns himself to being executed. How do the actors manage to leave the emotions their characters' predicament generates behind at the theatre when they go home each night? 'I find that the darker the material you're doing, the more fun you're having outside of it. Even if it's unconsciously just, 'I'm going to go have a laugh, because you can't take that mood home',' says Fee, who adds that the show is also extremely funny. 'I've been holding in laughs. It's really serious, but it's almost so dark it's absurd, so that makes you laugh. I think we're getting to expel that energy as well.' 'That's one thing, actually, that I'm anticipating, is laughter from an audience,' says Dylan, who has been keeping his media consumption light outside of the rehearsal room. 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Martin's way is just leaving this wealth of stuff that he's created. There's something really beautiful about that, and admirable. It doesn't make you a narcissistic egomaniac to want to leave something behind.' The Pillowman's lines could be a challenge to learn, Fee says – and he didn't help himself just before rehearsals started by 'stupidly' reading an interview with the singer Lily Allen, who played Katurian – the first woman to portray the character – in the West End of London in 2023. [ Lily Allen on working with Martin McDonagh: I would say things that might shock people, and he would be smiling Opens in new window ] It was 'just for the craic – like, 'I wonder how Lily Allen got on with this role.' And she's, like, 'I started learning my lines five months ago, because there's so many stories to learn.' 'And I was, like, 'Oh, my God. I've left it too late.' I kept thinking, 'It's five weeks away: that's not enough time.' But it's okay – touch wood.' 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Irish Post
2 days ago
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Eileen Walsh and Risteárd Cooper among stars who turned out for Dancing at Lughnasa opening night
ACTORS Eileen Walsh and Risteárd Cooper were among the stars who turned out for the opening night of Dancing at Lughnasa in Dublin this week. The Gate Theatre production of Brien Friel's classic is running at the 3Olympia Theatre until July 26. It is the first time a Gate Theatre production has transferred to the 3Olympia in 35 years. The last show to do so was a version of Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock in 1990. Eileen Walsh attended the production of Brian Friel's masterpiece Dancing at Lughnasa at 3Olympia Theatre (Pics: Rolling News) "We are thrilled to rekindle our historic relationship with the Olympia Theatre", said Gate Theatre Executive Director Colm O'Callaghan ahead of the show's opening. "Our strategic vision is that of an 'Open Gate' where everyone has access to great theatre, and playing to 3Olympia's summer audiences is a great way to help us realise this and to expand our audience." Risteard Cooper pictured with daughters Sadhbh and Nora at the opening night O'Callaghan added: "Collaborating with 3Olympia also means that our own stage is available to deliver on other key strategic goals such as premiering contemporary international plays." This week stars were out in force to watch the show, including Cork native Walsh, Dublin born Cooper, costume designer Joan Bergin and television presenter Maia Dunphy. TV presenter Maia Dunphy attended the opening night performance The critically acclaimed production is directed by Caroline Byrne, with a cast that features Lauren Farrell, Peter Gowen and Pauline Hutton. Set in Friel's fictional town of Ballybeg in Donegal in 1936, the story follows the lives of the five Mundy sisters. The award-winning costume designer Joan Bergin was also in attendance The play originally premiered in 1990 at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. A revival at the National Theatre in London in 2023 featured Ardal O'Hanlon and Siobhán McSweeney.
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