By Ann Russel
Directed by Gerard Lee
Susan is angry; placed in a nursing home, she feels trapped, abandoned, powerless and ignored. She has a memory, elusive but persistent. Is it real or not? How can she be sure and what does she do with the rage it generates?
Responses from the reading
It’s what we don’t say that drives our relationships. Ann Russell has created a haunting tale of a woman isolated twice over by a forced life of secrets and a cruel dementia that means no one will understand her truth.
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- Duncan McKenna
Ann Russell has opened up a life for us, a woman’s story that is so often never told.
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- Bebhinn Hare
In the midst of the heartbreak of Old Age there is laughter and even tears, not to mention terrific performances.
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- Paddy O’Dwyer
An intricately constructed study in how a group of women with very different life experiences relate to one another in the setting of a nursing home. It seriously engages with the issues of care, family, intergenerational communication, memory, and the dynamics of working in healthcare in contemporary Ireland. The various characters are carefully drawn by the playwright and evidence her astute grasp of the material she has chosen to explore. The reading featured a brilliant cast who, along with the director, did justice to this valuable new work
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- Shadaan Felfeli
The Tide
By Tara Maria Lovett
Two strangers meet on a beach. They both like to swim to forget the reality of their lives. Ivy is a middle-aged woman in a deeply unhappy marriage. J.C, a young man trapped with the step mother he inherited. Each of them has a dream of a different life. Ivy dreams of being swept away by a passionate relationship, she yearns for a lover to come to her out of the sea. J.C dreams of the Monte Carlo rally, of swimming the channel and going to America. We all dream! The Tide is a black comedy about the lengths this unlikely pair will go to, to make their dreams a reality. How far would you go for a dream? How far would you go for the life you want? The Tide is set in rural Ireland where seemingly ordinary people who never did anything “out of the way” decide that change must come. They use a Nissan Micra and the memory of a dead goldfish to hatch a plot to make their dreams come true. Once they start on the journey there is no turning back. Once they start they have to go where The Tide takes them.
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- Irish Independant
Enjoyable show with elegant writing
Humour and freshness to keep you engaged throughout
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- The Arts Review
Delightfully high handed comedy
- No More Workhorse
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Risk Everything
By George F. Walker
In George F Walker’s hilarious thriller-cum-dysfunctional-family drama we meet group of lovable losers struggling under extreme emotional and physical distress. Carol, an incorrigible risk taker, is determined to outwit a homicidal thug out of a sizable sum of money. To succeed in this plan, she must ensnare her daughter Denise, son-in-law RJ and new boyfriend Michael into her scheme.
Reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino and Martin McDonagh, Risk Everything kept audiences on the edge of their seats throughout it's run at The New Theatre, Temple Bar and The Viking Theatre, Dublin 3.
A roller coaster ride that's fast, furious and laugh out loud funny...Stupendous good fun. A stellar ensemble...first rate performances.
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An excellent performance from Ann Russell.
Teri Fitzgerald is strong in the role of Denise, an able foil to Russell’s Carol.
In a word: Brilliant.
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- Irish Examiner
- The Red Curtain Review
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A Titter of Wit
In 2015 Dublin City was named a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) City of Literature, only the fourth city worldwide to be so honoured. Names such as O’Casey, Wilde, Behan, Beckett and Joyce are synonymous with Dublin and there are reminders of their great literary works throughout the city.
A Titter of Wit, a celebration of the work of these and other great Irish writers, was developed and performed by Ann Russell, Owen O’Gorman
and Jessica Freed.
At just 50 minutes long, Titter of Wit was a humorous, whirlwind journey through Irish literature and drama from Sheridan to Beckett and Behan and was performed at
The Irish Writers Centre in Dublin.
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Taking place in the homely surroundings of the Irish Writers' Centre, this whimsical and tremendously enjoyable two-hander is a journey through Ireland's rich literary past, from Wilde to Yeates, Joyce to Beckett - with several stops in between. Despite the varied subject matter, human relations are a constant in each vignette, meaning the threat of fragmentation is kept at bay. Akin to having thehighlights of Irish literature prepped, assembled and delivered in an authentic manner, this is the perfect afternoon jaunt and one that truly deserves a large audience.
- Bryan O'Hanlon - Metro
The Dramatic Fantasies of George Fitzmaurice
The magical world of Kerry dramatist George Fitzmaurice was celebrated in Listowel for Writers’ Week in 2010. The Magic Glasses was staged in St. John’s Theatre and there were readings of other Fitzmaurice gems at the Seanchai Centre all of which were directed by Ann Russell. Ann was subsequently invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of Fitzmaurice’s death in May 2013 in Listowel.
The Bother with the Brother
This gem of satire and wit played in Bewleys Café Theatre, and brought the work of Flann O’Brien/Myles Na gCopaleen to the stage. Val O’Donnells adaptation was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Flann/Myles and was hailed as "a brilliant production” by The Sunday Times.
