Theatre Highlights of 2024
by M Quinn

This list is based on the productions that we saw/ reviewed over the year. Please let us know your favourites in the comments section below.

December is meant to be a quiet month for Theatre, but it included several of our favourites of the year, with The Dead (a joint production between ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI). If you missed it, there are rumours that it may return next year. There was also an intense and stripped-down version of A Streetcar Named Desire in Smock Alley. Another impressive production was the wild and irreverent It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own at the Project Arts Centre. In early December, Irish National Opera continued to set a high bar, with one of our reviewers commenting that their production of Rigoletto at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre was ‘almost perfect’!

At the Dublin Fringe Festival, Illness as Metaphor discussed serious topics with a light touch.  Another production that caught the imagination was Chicken with an intense performance by Eva O’Connor.

It was another impressive year in the Gate Theatre, with productions such as Dancing at Lughnasa and Circle Mirror Transformation being among the highlights. Agreement focussed on the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Some highlights at the Abbey Theatre included Audrey or Sorrow and Distillation (on the Peacock Stage). Recently, Brian Brannigan, lead singer of A Lazarus Soul said of ‘Audrey or Sorrow’: “It was vintage Marina (Carr), her finest play in years & we floated home”.

Some of the smaller productions that grabbed our attention included Boyfriend at the Project Arts Centre. The Last Pearl by Sligo’s finest Blue Raincoat Theatre was a beautiful symphony of puppets and imagery. Brokentalkers returned with Everything Falls at the Project Arts Centre with another visual feast.

The Dublin Dance Festival is one of our favourite events of the year, and a couple of international shows dazzled, including My Body of Coming Forth by Day showcasing Olivier Dubois’ love of the medium and ending with the audience spilling onto the stage! There was also CARCAÇA at the Abbey Theatre. Another Dance highlight was the São Paulo Dance Company at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.