Refuge – Dublin Theatre Festival – Review

By No More Workhorse on October 5, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

Refuge – Dublin Theatre Festival – Review

REFUGE by Deirdre Kinahan – Pavilion Theatre
Irish Premiere as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival 2026
Directed by Jim Culleton

Produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company & Staatstheater Mainz

The play is set in Rathkeale, County Limerick, in 1710, where we meet members of the Palatine community, recently arrived in Ireland. They have been given land to farm by Lord Southwell of Castle Matrix, but their new lives are overshadowed by an uneasy relationship with the people who occupied these lands before them. The Palatines fear the native Irish Catholics, many of whom have been evicted and forced to live in the surrounding countryside.

Among the newcomers is Hannah (Hannah von Peinen), who is married to Peter (Holger Kraft). They have two sons, although one has died. While walking the land one day, Hannah encounters Herr Ireland (Aidan Kelly). Their initial communication is hampered by the obvious barrier of language, but a tentative friendship develops. Herr Ireland makes an effort to learn German, using a Bible as his unlikely language guide in an attempt to communicate with Hannah. Despite the differences in their religion, language and social position, the two find common ground.

Running alongside this historical narrative is a contemporary story. Mary Murray plays Molly, a Samaritan who is helping an injured refugee, Zabi (Sabah Qalo). As the piece progresses, we gradually learn more about Zabi’s story and the circumstances that have brought him to Limerick. The two narratives, while separated by more than three centuries, tell the experiences of people who have arrived on these shores seeking somewhere to call home.

The production is visually striking, with an impressive set by Matthias Werner. Stone walls and arches, along with patches of grass stretch across the front of the stage, creating a landscape that feels timeless. There is also a spirit-like presence, played by dancer Matthew Williamson, who moves through the action as a silent witness. His movements respond to the music of Waterboy’s Steve Wickham, who provides a series of simple but evocative musical passages throughout the production on a variety of instruments. Together, the design, movement and music give the piece a dreamlike quality, blurring the boundaries between past and present.

This is a relatively unfamiliar chapter of Irish history, and it is fascinating to see the story of the Palatine community brought to the stage. At its heart is an idea of connection across seemingly immovable barriers: language, religion, class, nationality and time. There is an almost Romeo and Juliet quality to Hannah and Herr Ireland’s relationship, suggesting two people who might have found something deeper in another life, had circumstances allowed them to meet without the divisions that surround them.

It is always welcome to see collaborations between two theatre companies, and this joint production between Ireland’s Fishamble: The New Play Company and Staatstheater Mainz of Germany is an artistic collaboration between the two nations. This production will also run in Mainz later this month.

The production wisely avoids becoming weighed down by political or historical exposition. Context is deliberately kept to a minimum, allowing us instead to encounter these people as individuals rather than simply as representatives of particular communities or historical events. The result is a meditation on migration, displacement and belonging, drawing a line between two groups of immigrants arriving on Irish shores several hundred years apart. The comparison between the two periods isn’t obvious, and the circumstances are very different, but the desire to find safety and a place to call home remains remarkably familiar.