The Abbey Theatre is delighted to present the world premiere of a new play by one of Ireland’s finest playwrights, Tom Murphy. Opening on Tuesday 3 June THE LAST DAYS OF A RELUCTANT TYRANT is the seventeenth work that Murphy has premiered at Ireland’s national theatre.
For this production, award-winning director Conall Morrison directs a wonderful cast headed by Marie Mullan in the lead role of Arina, and including Barry Barnes, Eva Bartley, Janice Byrne, Des Cave, Declan Conlon, Brendan Conroy, Donagh Deeney, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Tom Hickey, Mick Lally, Frank McCusker, Ruth McGill, Bríd Ní Chumhaill, Rory Nolan, Aoife O’Donnell and Seán O’Neill.
An epic family drama, THE LAST DAYS OF A RELUCTANT TYRANT tells the tragic story of a family disintegrating. Arina is the matriarch who rules with an iron hand. However, as she gets older she begins to question the purpose of her power and wealth and, in doing so, sees it slipping into the grasp of her greedy and conniving son. Commissioned by the Abbey this haunting and darkly humorous new work from the writer of Alice Trilogy, A Whistle in the Dark, Bailegangaire and The Gigli Concert, is a fascinating study of family morality.
Tom Murphy was born in Tuam, County Galway and now lives in Dublin. He has received numerous theatre awards and holds honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the NUI (Galway). A six-play season celebrating his work, Tom Murphy at the Abbey, was presented by the Abbey Theatre in 2001. He has written for television and film and a novel, The Seduction of Morality. His stage plays include On the Outside (with Noel O’Donoghue), A Whistle in the Dark, A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant, Famine, The Morning After Optimism, The White House, On the Inside, The Sanctuary Lamp, Epitaph Under Ether (a compilation from the works of J.M. Synge), The Blue Macushla, Conversations on a Homecoming, The Gigli Concert, Bailegangaire, A Thief of a Christmas, Too Late For Logic, The Patriot Game, She Stoops to Folly (from The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith), The Wake, The House, The Drunkard, The Cherry Orchard (a version), Alice Trilogy and The Informer (from the novel by Liam O’Flaherty. He is published by Methuen Drama.