An Abbey Theatre production

The Cave


6 June - 18 July 2025

Written by Kevin Barry

Directed by Caitríona McLaughlin

Booking Information


Dates: 6 June – 18 July 2025 

Previews: 6 – 12 June 

On the Abbey Stage 

Times:
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Sat matinees 2pm
Tues matinee 2pm, 1 July
Wed matinees 2pm, 25 June, 9 July & 16 July
Fri matinee 2pm, 18 July

No performances 2 – 5 July 

Running time: 2 hours plus a 20-minute interval

Tickets:  €15 – €55 

Galway performances
Town Hall Theatre:
22 – 26 July
Book tickets for Galway here.

Sign language interpreted performance: Thursday 26 June, 7:30pm

Touch Tour of Stage and Set: Saturday 28 June, 12:00pm

Audio-described and captioned performance: Saturday 28 June, 2:00pm

“We’re safe from it all... for a while… when we’re up here”

The Cave is a world premiere production written by acclaimed writer Kevin Barry (City of Bohane, Night Boat to Tangier) and directed by Abbey Theatre Artistic Director, Caitríona McLaughlin. The production stars Aaron Monaghan, Judith Roddy and Tommy Tiernan.

We meet the McRae brothers in a dead zone in the mountains of south County Sligo. Sleeping rough in a cave and in trouble with the law, Archie and Bopper are running out of road. This desperate pair have only each other to rely on as they try to restart their van, their lives and their WiFi connection.

And then there’s the local sergeant who is becoming more and more entangled in their lives…

The Cave is an unforgettable black comedy from the pen of one of Ireland’s most beloved writers.  

Find out more about the other plays which are part of our 2025 programme here.

Cast Interviews 

Meet the Company 

Images: Róisín Murphy O’Sullivan

Kevin Barry  

Kevin Barry’s stage credits include There Are Little Kingdoms (Meridian Theatre Company, Cork, 2008; Keegan Theater Company,  Washington DC, 2009; Decadent Theatre Company, Galway, 2021), Burn The Bad Lamp (Town Hall Theatre, Galway, 2010), Autumn Royal (Everyman Palace, Cork, 2017, 2018; Irish Repertory Theater, New York 2021) and Guests Of The Nation  (Corcadorca, Cork, 2022.) Autumn Royal was awarded the BBC Northern Ireland Drama Award in 2018. He has also written half a dozen radio plays for RTÉ and the BBC, including Maybe the Night and Toronto and the State of Grace, both of which were medal winners at the New York Festival Radio Awards. He wrote the film script for Dark Lies the Island, 2019, and has several other feature scripts in development. He has published four novels, including most recently The Heart in Winter, and three short story collections, most recently That Old Country Music. His literary awards include the International Dublin Literary Award, the European Union Prize for Literature, the Goldsmiths Prize, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Lannan Foundation Literary Award, the Sunday Times Short Story Prize, the O Henry Story Prize, the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and many more. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and his short stories and essays regularly appear in the New Yorker, Harpers, Granta and elsewhere. He is the co-editor and publisher of Winter Papers, Ireland’s annual arts anthology. Originally from Limerick city, he now lives in County Sligo.

Credits

  • Bopper: Aaron Monaghan
  • Helen: Judith Roddy
  • Archie: Tommy Tiernan
  • Writer: Kevin Barry
  • Director: Caitríona McLaughlin
  • Set and Costume Designer: Joanna Parker
  • Lighting Designer: Stephen Dodd
  • Sound Designer and Composer: Sinéad Diskin
  • Dramaturg: Ruth McGowan
  • Hair and Make Up: Leonard Daly
  • Director of Voice and Actor Development: Andrea Ainsworth
  • Casting Director: Barry Coyle
  • Assistant Director: Éadaoin Fox
  • Assistant Sound Designer: Martha Knight
  • Illustration of Kevin Barry: Louise Boughton
  • Publicity Image: Rich Gilligan
  • Graphic Design: AAD
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