Dublin, 8th June 2021 –The Abbey Theatre, today, announced it will reopen its doors and welcome audiences back to the building for the world premiere of Una McKevitt’s One Good Turn. Ireland’s national theatre had previously announced that the play will stream live from the Abbey stage on 25th and 26th of June and be available, on-demand, until 10th July. In addition to this digital offering, the comic new play will now also be attended by an audience of 50 people for a limited run of seven performances from 21st June.
Graham McLaren and Neil Murray, Directors of the Abbey Theatre said:
“One Good Turn will mark a turning point in the Irish theatre landscape. After a year of creating primarily digital projects, the Government’s recent announcement that theatres can re-open, allows the re-emergence of live theatre and the return of audiences to our theatre seats. The last 15 months have had a profound impact on the theatre industry and, in particular, its artists. We want to extend our sincere thanks to Minister Catherine Martin TD and her colleagues for the admirable work they have done in advocating for the theatre community.”
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said:
“I am delighted that the Abbey Theatre is opening its doors for the first time in 2021, with performances of Una McKevitt’s One Good Turn to live audiences. This will be the first of many memorable productions on the Abbey and Peacock stages in the months ahead and I congratulate director Emma Jordan, the cast, crew and the entire Abbey Theatre team in bringing One Good Turn to the stage just weeks after the Government approved the reopening of theatres, demonstrating once again the innovation, ingenuity and creativity that are hallmarks of the arts sector.”
One Good Turn presents a family on the brink, who are keeping the show on the road any which way they can. Brenda wants Frank to do his exercises, Aoife wants to go to a wedding, of all things, Fiona doesn’t know what she wants and Frank is looking for the gun. Written by Stewart Parker award-winning writer Una McKevitt and directed by Emma Jordan, who was awarded “Best Director” at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2018, both artists are making their Abbey stage debuts.
As the first live ensemble production on the Abbey stage since March 2020, One Good Turn will mark the national theatre’s return to the Abbey stage with the world premiere of a new play. The production features a stellar cast, including Abbey regulars Bosco Hogan, Catherine Byrne, Shane O’Reilly and fresh off their recent success with Channel 4’s Frank of Ireland, Pom Boyd and Liz FitzGibbon. It will also mark actor Aoibhéann McCann’s debut on the Abbey stage.
Graham McLaren and Neil Murray continued:
“Re-opening is a journey, one that will be travelled slowly and safely. We are opening at about 10% capacity with strict COVID-19 protocols in place for both our artists and audiences. To ensure we are still doing our best to serve all of Ireland’s audiences we have developed a hybrid format that allows us to have a limited live audience in the auditorium, while it is being filmed and live-streamed to people at home at the same time.”
One Good Turn is part of Graham McLaren and Neil Murray’s final season of programming as Directors of the Abbey Theatre. Further details of their final programme, which will run until late 2021, will be announced over the coming weeks and months.
In-person and digital tickets for One Good Turn are on sale now.