The Crown and the Red Cross – Dublin Castle – Review

Performance Details – Venue: Dublin Castle State Apartments

22 September – 2 October 6.30pm & 8.30pm – Tickets from €12

Eventbrite Tickets available here

This is a new production that allows you into the heart of Dublin Castle. The production gives you a vision of what it was like for the “nurses, soldiers, and civil servants living and working in Dublin Castle” over the course of the 1916 rising. Part of Dublin Castle was a Red Cross hospital during 1916, taking casualties from the first world war. It was also the seat of power for the British Empire in Ireland, and where the Chief Secretary of Ireland carried out his day to day work. The audience gets to see the various protagonists carrying out their daily chores before the first shots ring out from the Rebel forces.

The setting for the play is quite remarkable, as you are allowed in and around the State Apartments in Dublin Castle. You get to see the Throne Room and adjoining rooms within the complex. It is a promenade performance and the audience follow the actors around a number of locations. All these rooms are quite close together, so while you are standing for the majority of the performance, it is not an overly strenuous activity.

The play takes on the difficult task of summarising the events of the week long Rising into just over an hour. The promenade style also makes it difficult for the writers to show the passage of time. This is mainly achieved by the actors talking about what is happening off stage, and a number of carefully worded telegrams that are read aloud. While these devices are slightly clunky in nature, it is difficult to see how it could be achieved otherwise without use of a narrator.

The real joy of this production is the wonderful location. It allows the audience a glimpse of the shock and surprise a rebellion would have caused to the workers within the castle. This story has been told many times from the perspective of the rebels. It is very unusual to tell the tale from the other side and in one of the institutions most under attack. This is an enjoyable new work that takes a unusual view of the Rising within this centenary year.

Cast:  Gerard Byrne, David O’Meara, Sophie Jo Wasson, Nicola Abernethy, Patrick O’Donnell, Jennifer Laverty, Colm O’Brien, Ruairi Leneghan, Eilis O’Donnell, Phillip Judge.

Production Team

Jennifer Laverty & Eilis O’Donnell – writers

Matthew Ralli – director

Melissa Nolan – producer

Darren Kelleher – sound design

Rowena Cunningham – costume design

Andrew Deering – stage manager