Caught between Halloween and Christmas, November can sometimes seem something of a write-off. However, this is certainly not the case in Dublin’s pulsing theatre scene. From opera to ballet, Broadway classics to new Irish musicals, and classic stage adaptations to riveting new dramas, this month illustrates the undeniable good health of Dublin’s theatre scene.
The clamour of audiences for more musical theatre is certainly reflected in this month’s billings. New Irish musical Chromatics returned to the Mill Theatre, Dundrum, for a strictly limited run, which finished on November 10th. After a previous run in April, the show was revised under new direction by West End director Andrew Keates. The production follows a group of young graduates as they discover the differences between their expectations of adult life and the disillusioning reality.
This week, Carousel, the creation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, will be playing the National Concert Hall. Heralded by Time as the best musical of the 20th century, the score boasts classics such as “If I Loved You” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The show has received backlash from critics in recent years, as directors struggle to approach the domestic abuse narrative central to the Hammerstein’s book. One would expect a classic interpretation in the forthcoming production.
The highly anticipated Asking For It landed at the Abbey Theatre last Friday and runs until November 24th. After a run at the Cork Midsummer Festival in June, the adaption of Louise O’Neill’s acclaimed novel about the aftermath of a seuxal assualt received critical acclaim. Following on from Deirdre Kinahan’s Rathmines Road, the play illustrates a continuing conversation held by the Abbey concerning sexual assault and society’s response.
Selina Cartmell concludes her inaugural season in the Gate with the theatre’s season opener, The Great Gatsby. Led by Lír graduate Barry John Kinsella, the immersive setting is a major selling point for the production, as patrons are encouraged to dress up in 1920s attire to attend one of Jay Gatsby’s unforgettable soirées. After garnering considerable acclaim in its 2017 run, the production is destined to be a hot ticket this Christmas, with a possible New Year’s Eve party with Jay Gatsby even on the cards.
The Bord Gais Energy Theatre takes a brief hiatus from touring musicals to showcase premier ballet and opera as it hosts the Tchaikovsky Perm State Ballet group for Swan Lake and Giselle and the Irish National Opera for Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. After the English National Ballet’s dramatic reinterpretation of Giselle – which played in the theatre to great acclaim in May – patrons will be given the chance to see the ballet in its original form. The Irish National Opera’s production of Aida also promises to turn heads and has the potential to be the company’s largest production to date. Soprano Orla Boylan takes on the role of the enslaved princess in what has been hailed the grandest of grand operas.
