Each piece of work for the Dear Ireland project has been written and created by the artists while in isolation with the idea being to get people talking about life under the current circumstances.
An Abbey Theatre production, Dear Ireland is a “national conversation led by Ireland’s artists”. The project sees 100 artists (50 writers and 50 actors) team up to deliver monologues on all manner of topics – including answering questions such as what should Ireland write on a postcard to itself?
A rapid response to the Covid-19 crisis, the project provides out of work artists with a means to make a living while giving us a night at the theatre… which is what many would call a win-win situation.
A post on the Abbey website, explains the premise:
“In the theatre community, we physically come together to create and share our work. The social distancing in place at the moment stops us from doing this, but this will not stop us creating opportunities to hear and share Ireland’s artistic voice.
We commissioned writers from Ireland, with unique additional contributions from the USA, China and Italy, to each write a monologue, to be performed by 50 actors, and then streamed on our YouTube channel.
Each writer nominated one actor to perform their piece, and the actors are self-taping their performances from social isolation.”
🚨 Countdown for #DearIreland! 🚨
We have gathered a choir of 100 voices to inspire, challenge and entertain you.
Join us from 7.30pm on Tuesday 28 April ✨https://t.co/o6DOWzuCEt pic.twitter.com/EJZEFfikJu— Abbey Theatre (@AbbeyTheatre) April 24, 2020
Featuring an impressive line-up of Irish and international talent, things kick off this evening at 7:30pm and you can see the full list of pairings below:
- Blindboy and Cathy Belton
- Dermot Bolger and Dawn Bradfield
- Pom Boyd and Brendan Gleeson
- Sinéad Burke and Eleanor Walsh
- TKB (Thommas Kane Byrne) and Ericka Roe
- Dylan Coburn Gray and Leah Minto
- Karen Cogan and Siobhán McSweeney
- John Connors and Graham Earley
- Kit de Waal and Peter Gowen
- Shaun Dunne and Eva-Jane Gaffney
- Iseult Golden and Marion O’Dwyer
- Stacey Gregg and Conor MacNeill
- Sarah Hanly and Denise Gough
- Nancy Harris and Marty Rea
- David Ireland and Abigail McGibbon
- Colm Keegan and Owen Roe
- Sonya Kelly and Deirdre Donnelly
- Deirdre Kinahan and Bríd Ní Neachtain
- Emmet Kirwan and Emmet Kirwan featuring Mike Donnelly
- Darach Mac Con Iomaire and Eoin O Dubhghaill
- Manchán Magan and Bríd Criomhthain
- Aoife Martyn and Norma Sheahan
- Owen McCafferty and Patrick O’Kane
- Rosaleen McDonagh and Sorcha Fox
- Frank McGuinness and Joan Sheehy
- Meadhbh McHugh (New York) and Clare O’Malley
- Una McKevitt and Katherine Lynch
- Phillip McMahon and Caoilfhionn Dunne
- Andrea Molino (Italy) and David Moss
- Gina Moxley and Timmy Creed
- Jimmy Murphy and Clare Dunne
- Zoe Ní Riordáin and Seána Kerslake
- Edna O’Brien and Stanley Townsend
- Eva O’Connor and Amy McAllister
- Joseph O’Connor and Kathy Rose O’Brien
- John O’Donovan and Nicola Coughlan
- Mark O’Halloran and Andrew Bennett
- Jody O’Neill and Marie Mullen
- Shane O’Reilly and Amanda Coogan
- Felicia ‘Felispeaks’ Olusanya and Deirdre Molloy
- Margaret Perry and Breffni Holahan
- Ursula Rani Sarma and Owen McDonnell
- Arthur Riordan and Rory Nolan
- Ciara Elizabeth Smyth and Camille Lucy Ross
- Abbie Spallen and Jolene O’Hara
- Keith James Walker and Ashleigh Dorrell
- Enda Walsh and Zara Devlin
- Michael West and Mark Doherty
- Carmel Winters and Lucianne McEvoy
- Zhu Yi (China) and Julia Gu
Streaming in four parts, the Dear Ireland videos will be available to watch over on the Abbey’s YouTube channel for a period of six months.
Need inspiration for staying at home? Sign up to our Lovin Home Comforts newsletter here.
