In Vitro – Bewley’s Cafe Theatre – Review

IN VITRO – Written By Aoife O’Connor
February 2nd – 21st, 2026

The play focuses on what it proclaims in its title: the process of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). The setting is not a married husband and wife who have been unable to have a child, notwithstanding that they have been trying. Here we enter the world of Sam (Eimear Barr) and Lily (Clodagh Mooney-Duggan), who are living together as a same-sex couple in a comfortable rented apartment. Lily is the main breadwinner, with a bank job, while Eimear is a freelance musician, doing odd gigs. It is their first Christmas together. They have a tree, and Lily has decorated it tastefully with a string of plain white lights. Sam has other ideas, and when she has the opportunity, she surreptitiously adds a string of brightly coloured lights, garish compared to Lily’s restrained white lights. It is a minuscule fracture between them, but it is of significance.

They want to have a baby, and that raises a myriad of issues which a straight couple, married or unmarried, do not have to negotiate. The advantages and disadvantages of which of them will carry the baby are carefully considered, as well as the bureaucracy and costs they have to negotiate in the process of obtaining in vitro fertilisation. In addition, consideration must be given to the attributes or defects of the various possible sperm donors. It is far from a simple process with many personal and official hoops to be negotiated. The minuscule fracture of the Christmas lights becomes exacerbated.

In vitro fertilisation is not a topic often aired on an Irish stage. Here it is the central issue in the relationship between Sam and Lily, and it leads to awkward tensions given their different upbringings, needs and aspirations. Barr and Clodagh-Mooney negotiate this tricky terrain with concern and commitment. The options which open before them reveal their very different backgrounds and aspirations. At times their interactions seem a bit stilted, but at other times there is a strong realisation of how two lovers row. Both of them generate empathy.

The play takes place over a period of approximately a year. For a two-hander, there are at least two occasions when both actors are off the stage, and there are several very short breaks where some prop or other is moved. These breaks interrupt the flow of the performance. They need to be diminished to intensify the drama.

The subject matter of this play is undoubtedly one that needs airing in all its possible variations. O’Connor faces it here full frontal in relation to a same-sex couple. It shines a light on the challenges they face as they try to fulfil their dreams. It is informative and valuable.

CAST AND CREW​

WRITTEN BY: Aoife O’Connor

DIRECTED BY: Katie O’Halloran

STARRING: Eimear Barr  and Clodagh Mooney-Duggan

SET DESIGN: Mar Parés Baraldés LIGHTING DESIGN: Colm Maher

SOUND DESIGN: HK Ní Shioradáin

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/STAGE MANAGER: Luka Costello

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Gavin Doyle