If you’re feeling flush and don’t mind a meander on the north side, an evening at the Peacock Theatre might be your thing. A popular Dublin theatre since 1927, The Peacock does what The Abbey cannot. It is the experimental enfant terrible to its more conservative and economically directed older sibling. When considered in relation to the more conservative affairs of the Abbey or the Gate, the productions in the Peacock tend to be more experimental and collaborative in nature. If you have actor friends or hang around with theatre enthusiasts, you might regularly hear them say they’ve headed on over there to work on an upcoming a production. Although being a fully government-funded arts institution, once there you get a greater sense of community, innovation and creativity from the productions than you might expect. The Peacock exhibits more of an expansive vista of new Irish playwrights as compared to the Abbey. It’s impossible to narrow down the general aesthetic and subject matter of the plays found there, yet one word comes to mind: innovation. New, original and controversial are all part and parcel of the ethos practised at the annexed creative space.
If you don’t like the red carpets or the rubbing of shoulders with civil servants in the Abbey foyer, perhaps the gallery-like walls and displays of the Peacock suits the less exercised theatre-goer. Its space gives off an almost fringe-like experience as you can easily drop in one afternoon for lunch and a play. Of course, like many other art institutions, the Peacock has been pressured to provide the full cultural experience – enter: restaurant from stage left, where you can avail of breakfast, lunch and pre-theatre meals. All tasty and modern Irish fare – far from the stuff Yeats was raised on but good to the back pocket nonetheless.
This season’s production aptly complies with our change of weather as The Remains of Masie Duggan by Carmel Winters retells the dark family drama of the Duggans. Its dark themes work well with the play’s hour and a half duration. Any longer, and the snapshot Winters exposes would soon run limp in potency. One of the greatest things about Dublin is the various and rather cheap theatre that it produces. The main problem is keeping up and keeping yourself aware of these productions. The Peacock exists as a place to dip your toe into the semi-fringe nature of its productions but also to experience pure Irish contemporary plays. It doesn’t scold you for missing its previous productions, but instead welcomes you into the fully immersive pieces it exhibits. If you have a free evening and don’t want to succumb to the middle-class escapism that can often be the national theatre, then the notionless Peacock stage is for you.
The Remains of Masie Duggan runs from September 26th to October 29th.
