Theatre Dublin Travel Guides | Dublin | Arts and Entertainment | Theatre Dublin

The Dublin Theatre Festival takes place in autumn, when international and local productions are performed throughout the city and every hotel is bursting at the seams. It is preceded by the Fringe Festival when the wackier elements of modern theatre predominate. Even if you aren’t visiting the city at festival time, you’ll find plenty of drama on offer. The city’s theatres are flourishing, from the traditional Abbey Theatre to the innovative Project Arts Centre, where art, dance, theatre and video meet.

Abbey Theatre, 26 Abbey St Lower, T 01 878 7222, http://www.abbeytheatre.ie Box office Mon-Sat 1000-1900. One of the most famous theatres in the world was rebuilt in the 1960s in a brutalist style that will tremendously disappoint theatrical pilgrims drawn here by tales of the Abbey’s stirring role in the city’s history. Opened as a theatre in 1902 by the poet WB Yeats and his friend Lady Gregory, the Abbey staged cutting-edge drama that outraged public opinion by depicting Irish life in all its diversity. Nowadays, however, the choice of material and the style of productions tend to err on the safe side. The current ugly and uncomfortable venue is due to be rebuilt in 2005.

Andrew’s Lane Studio and Theatre , 9-13 Andrew’s Lane, T 01 679 5720. Box office Mon-Sat 1030-1900. Somewhat faded venue for popular theatre. Regional touring companies and the occasional international troupe perform sound but unchallenging stuff.

Bewley’s Café Theatre, Grafton St, T 086 878 4001. E10 including lunch. Lunchtime theatre is sometimes performed upstairs in beautiful Bewley’s. The productions are often surprisingly innovative.

Crypt Arts Centre, Dublin Castle, Dame Lane, T 01 671 3387. Box office Mon-Fri 1000-1800. E10. This intimate space in the crypt of Dublin Castle’s church is used by smaller, avant-garde theatre companies.

Dublin Writers’ Museum, Parnell Sq, T 01 872 2077. Box office Mon-Sat 1000-1700. Decent productions of classic Irish theatre.

Gaiety Theatre, South King St, T 01 677 1717. Box office Mon-Sat 1000-1900. E17-30. A bums-on-seats kind of place, the Gaiety is a little shabby round the edges and home to all manner of beasts from Opera Ireland to panto to funny movies on club nights.

Gate Theatre, 1 Cavendish Row, T 01 874 4045. Box office Mon-Sat 1000-1900. E20. Dublin’s second-most famous theatre was founded in 1928 by Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards, an openly gay couple who defied sexual conventions. MacLiammóir performed in over 300 roles at the Gate between the 1920s and the 1970s, and the theatre staged Oscar Wilde’s Salome after the play had been banned in Britain. It’s a little more conservative these days and less inclined to host ‘progressive plays unfettered by theatrical convention’, but the Gate remains a fine theatre with a pleasantly balcony- and box-free auditorium.

Peacock Theatre, 26 Abbey St Lower, T 01 878 7222. Box office Mon-Sat 1000-1900. The experimental wing of the Abbey, the Peacock mixes established drama with previously unproduced works by young Irish writers.

Travel Guides | Dublin | Arts and Entertainment | Theatre Dublin
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