Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

In May of last year the high court judge Sean Ryan finally revealed the 2,600-page report of Ireland’s Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (commonly known as the Ryan Report).

In responding to the report, Taoiseach Brian Cowen claimed it shone a powerful light into ‘the darkest corner of the history of the State’. Under the title, The Darkest Corner, we present a series of powerful work which both remembers the findings and reflects on the systemic abuse revealed within state-funded and regulated institutions.

The Farcry productions presentation of James X concludes The Darkest Corner series.

James X is ‘… an account of life literally from the womb, and of the tribulations that beset a child’s passage through a country that is portrayed as grim, authoritarian and deeply prejudiced against him and his kind’. Bruce Arnold.

Written and directed by Gerard Mannix Flynn
Performed by Gerard Mannix Flynn

Gerard Mannix Flynn’s discusses his exhibition, ‘Padded Cell & Other Stories’ with Vincent Woods on RTÉ‘s Arts Tonight. Listen here.

The Darkest Corner series begins with No Escape a piece of documentary theatre based on the findings of the Ryan Report compiled and edited by celebrated writer and Irish Times journalist Mary Raftery and directed by Róisín McBrinn.

Mary’s 1999 film States of Fear and follow up book Suffer the Little Children exposed the widespread abuse of children in institution run by the Church.

The Darkest Corner continues with a reading of Richard Johnson’s controversial play The Evidence I Shall Give, which premiered at the Abbey in 1961. A courtroom drama, this striking play centres on the case of a 13-year old girl, transferred from an orphanage to an industrial school due to her alleged indiscipline. Richard Johnson was a District Court judge in Co. Kerry and the work, which is said to be based on actual events, was highlighted in Volume 4 of the Ryan Report under the heading ‘A Play at the Abbey Theatre’.

James X
Thursday 29 April – Saturday 1 May
8pm
Tickets: €15 – €25

No Escape
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 24 April
Preview Tuesday 13 April
8pm, Saturday matinee 2.30pm
Tickets: €15 – €25

NB Wheelchair accessible performance Tuesday 20 April at 8pm, LIberty Hall Theatre.

The Evidence I Shall Give
Monday 26 April
Peacock stage
6pm

Wheelchair accessible performance:
Tuesday 27 April
Liberty Hall Theatre
6pm
Book for this performance on (01) 87 87 222

Tickets: €6/€4

The Darkest Corner ticket packages
See two or more of these events and save up to €5 on your tickets.
Call Box Office on 01 87 87 222 for details.

You might also be interested to hear Bruce Arnold’s talk, The Politics of Abuse, on Tuesday, 20 April. Or meet the writer, director and performer of James X, Gerard Mannix Flynn, as he discusses issues of institutionalisation with our Director, Fiach Mac Conghail, on Thursday, 22 April. Read more online.

Book now or call (01) 87 87 222

We regret, the Peacock Theatre is not accessible to patrons who require wheelchair and disability access.