IN the first online Gate At Home production, a new play by Frank McGuinness will have its world premiere streamed from the Gate auditorium for four performances.
Frank McGuinness wrote the play during lockdown for the two renowned Irish actors Stephen Rea and Judith Roddy. Caitríona McLaughlin, the newly appointed Artistic Director- designate of the Abbey Theatre, will direct the production.
This moving new play about an Irish father (Stephen Rea) and daughter (Judith Roddy) at visiting hour in a nursing home during the pandemic, will be performed and recorded in the Gate auditorium, and streamed to audiences on April 22nd, 23rd and 24th at 7.30pm.
The play quietly observes a daughter visiting her elderly father in his nursing home. His mind is beginning to wander, but conversations about the past can be dangerous, and family memories can look very different, depending on who is telling the story.
Gate At Home is a new artistic initiative of bespoke productions streamed from the Gate Creative Studio re-creating a unique and distinctive performance experience viewable from home.
“I am thrilled to bring this dynamic creative team together for our first Gate At Home production,” said Selina Cartmell, Gate Director. “The Gate team have worked so hard to make this production happen, despite the ongoing financial challenges of the pandemic.
“With the welcome government investment of our vital Arts Council funding, last month we were able to announce the Gate Creative Studio, the Gate Masterclasses, and a series of commissions for Irish writers and theatre companies. Now we are especially grateful to bring theatre production back to the Gate in 2021.”
Frank McGuinness’s extraordinary plays have been produced around the world to critical acclaim, including The Factory Girls, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and Dolly West’s Kitchen.
His adaptations for theatre form an exceptional body of work with translations of the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen, Lorca and Strindberg. Productions of his plays at the Gate include Innocence (1986) and The Bread Man (1990).
Adaptions include Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (1988), Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1990) and The Threepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht (1991).
His play Gates of Gold (2002), commissioned by the Gate, was a work of fiction inspired by the lives of Gate founders Hilton Edwards and Michael MacLiammoir.
It offered a fascinating glimpse into a unique partnership, two lives devoted to each other, and to the theatre they founded.
The Visiting Hour Cast and Creative Team
Cast: Stephen Rea and Judith Roddy
Directed by Caitríona McLaughlin
Set and Costume Design by Katie Davenport
Lighting Design by Paul Keogan
Sound and Composition by Tom Lane
€15 concession | €25 standard ticket | €40 household ticket | €50 support the Gate ticket
Running time:60 minutes.A captioned version of the production will be streamed April 23rd.
