Youth’s the Season -? – Abbey Theatre – Review

2 April – 3 May 2025
Written by Mary Manning
Directed by Sarah Jane Scaife
Photography: Ros Kavanagh

This play lets us into the world of various young and affluent men and women, on the cusp of finding their place in society, in Dublin of the 1930s. Their problems do not sound that different to those of today, as they talk of their careers and romances. The play focuses on three siblings, Deirdre (Sadhbh Malin), Connie (Molly Hanly) and Desmond (David Rawle). Connie has fallen for Terence (Kerill Kelly), a would-be writer who is more in love with himself than anyone else. Connie is being chased by Harry (Youssef Quinn), a sensible, if dull, young man who is working in Kenya, expanding the Empire! Connie’s sister Deirdre (Sadhbh Malin) is engaged to Gerald (Jack Meade), a young doctor whom she takes for granted. The final sibling is Desmond, an artistic young man who wants to escape to London to find the freedom he yearns for.

The play is written by Mary Manning (30 June 1905 – 25 June 1999). Manning was an Irish novelist and playwright. Youth’s The Season…? was first performed in The Gate Theatre in 1931, when Manning was only 26 years of age. Despite the changes that had taken place in Ireland during the previous two decades, the play shows us a Protestant mercantile family with little mention of politics or government. The focus is on their careers and love lives in Dublin, a town they dearly love despite its failings. We are shown a very different Dublin from The Plough and the Stars, which was first performed at the Abbey Theatre 5 years earlier in 1926.

The play is directed by Sarah Jane Scaife, who has taken a break from her explorations of Samuel Beckett, with her theatre company, Company SJ.  Beckett and Manning were close friends, and knew each other from childhood. Manning is a playwright who is largely forgotten, and her work is rarely performed in Ireland, so it is impressive that the Abbey decided to revive this work.

There’s no attempt to change the setting, and the set design by Sabine Dargent gives us lavish Georgian interiors, with a large plush drawing room. Later, we’re moved to a party scene in a studio in the attic of the same house. There is a touch of splendour to the spaces, with high ceilings and large windows. The costume design (by Sinéad Cuthbert) further enhances the sense of luxury.

The play is unusual, with a light and fast-paced first and second act preceding a dark and sinister third and final act. The play initially focuses on their love lives, but the later scenes are more complex. The two sections are almost at odds with each other, and it is quite a shock for the audience. There are many memorable and amusing lines in the first section, with the quips and witty comments delivered at speed. In the final segment, Desmond, a young gay man, talks about his loneliness and his sense of isolation. It is quite a remarkable piece of writing, for something written almost a 100 years ago. The play requires a young cast, and there are a variety of new faces on the Abbey stage. It is an interesting and worthwhile revival of a play lost long ago.

Written by Mary Manning
Directed by Sarah Jane Scaife

Credits
Toots : Ciara Berkeley
Willie: Eoin Fullston
Connie: Molly Hanly
Terence: Kerill Kelly
Deirdre: Sadhbh Malin
Gerald: Jack Meade
Mrs. Millington: Valerie O’Connor
Harry: Youssef Quinn
Desmond: David Rawle
Pearl/Mary: Mazzy Ronaldson
Egosmith: Lórcan Strain

Director: Sarah Jane Scaife
Set Designer: Sabine Dargent
Costume Designer: Sinéad Cuthbert
Lighting Designer: Stephen Dodd
Composer and Sound Designer: Rob Moloney
Movement Director: Ella Clarke
Voice Director: Andrea Ainsworth
Fight Director: Ciaran O’Grady
Hair and Make-Up: Val Sherlock
Image Credit: Baba Beaton photographed by Cecil Beaton, Vogue, Condé Nast
Production Photography: Ros Kavanagh