The Abbey- it’s the posh one. If you were going to take your granny to a show, it would be at The Abbey (unless she’s one of those grannies, like mine, that shouts at the actors). More importantly however, The Abbey is our national theatre, representing us as a nation on stage, though that has always been debatable.
When Ireland was still in a bit of a tug of war with the English, to euphemise the colonial stuggle beyond belief, people looked to the national theatre to create an image of a new independent Irish nation and to represent the Irish people in a positive light. The stage was used as a place to contest issues of political and economic power as iconic playwrights like W. B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory, J. M. Synge and Sean O’Casey strove to create images of ‘Irish-ness’ that would be effective in asserting Ireland’s cultural identity.
The first state subsidised theatre in the English speaking world, The Abbey remains true to its heritage, regularly re-animating plays from the Irish repertoire, as well as presenting diverse, engaging and innovative Irish and international theatre. Recent productions include Brecht’s brilliant ‘The Resitistable Rise of Arturo Ui’ and Roddy Doyle and Bisi Adigun’s adaptation of Synge’s ‘Playboy of the Western World’.
While currently located on Lower Abbey Street just yards from the Liffey, the government announced in 2006 that an international design competition would be held to create a new home for the Abbey, to be located on George’s Dock in Dublin. In October 2007, the jury for the competition was announced. It is anticipated that the Abbey will have moved to its new home by 2012.