23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Dolmen Theatre present In the Shadow of the Glen and Riders to the Sea by J M Synge
In The Shadow Of The Glen was the first of J.M Synge's plays to be performed on stage in1903.
A tramp, played by Nevan Finegan, is seeking shelter in the Burkes' isolated farmhouse in Co Wicklow when he comes across Nora played by Michelle Matthews, tending to the corpse of Dan, her husband, played by Jack Montgomery, . When a young sheep farmer, played by David McArdle calls to the house to pay his respects it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems.
Riders To The Sea is set in the Aran Islands and is inspired by a story that Synge heard when he visited the islands on the recommendation of W B Yeats.
It tells the story of Maurya ,played by Gabrielle Tuomey, who has lost her husband and five sons to the sea. Her daughters, Nora and Cathleen, played by Sarah Cosgrove and Aoife Duffy receive word from the priest that a body, which may be that their brother Michael, has washed up on shore in County Donegal.
Their only remaining brother Bartley, played by Max Valentine, is due to travel to the main land to sell horses. But he and Maurya part on ill words before his voyage and she predicts that by nightfall she will have no living sons left.
Riders To The Sea was first performed in 1904 and is considered to be one of the greatest one act plays of the 20th century.
J.M Synge was a leading figure in the Irish Literary renaissance, He wrote only seven plays before his untimely death at the age of 37. He created a new, musical dramatic idiom, spoken in English but vitalized by Irish syntax know as Hiberno-English. His legacy to Irish drama was immense and his influence is sill resonant to this day. He has inspired the likes O'Casey, Friel, Behan, Kean and more recently playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh.
Tickets €16 and concessions €14 plus €1.50 booking fee per ticket are available from the box office at An Tain Arts Centre, by phone 042 9332332 or online at Friday night's performance is already sold out and only a limited number of tickets are available for Thursday night.
