The Pride of Parnell StreetBy Sebastian Barry
The Pride of Parnell Street is a moving account of a marriage and a time that have both past. Through interconnecting monologues an estranged couple, Janet and Joe, chart the intimacies of their love and the rupturing of their relationship, as well as their enduring love affair with Dublin city itself. Sebastian Barry’s play explores, with vivid tenderness, the devastating effects of public and private acts of violence. This is an intimate, heroic tale of ordinary and extraordinary life on the streets of Dublin. WINNER 1st Irish Best Production Award WINNER 1st Irish Best Actress Award WINNER MAMCA Best Play Award WINNER MAMCA Best Actress Award |
Created byWritten by Sebastian Barry
Directed by Jim Culleton Produced by Marketa Puzman Set & costume design Sabine Dargent Lighting design Mark Galione Sound design Denis Clohessy |
Cast2007-2011
Mary Murray 2007-2008 Karl Shiels 2009 Aidan Kelly 2011 Joe Hanley |
Touring
2011:
27-28 April: Siamsa Tíre, Tralee 30 April: Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise 3-7 May: Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire 10-11 May: An Grianán, Letterkenny 13-14 May: Glór, Ennis 17-18 May: Backstage, Longford 20 May: Town Hall Theatre, Galway 24-28 May: The Helix, DCU 2009: 1st September – 4th October: 59E59 Theaters, New York as part of 1st Irish |
2008:
29th April – 3rd May: Cork Opera House, Cork 7th May: Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo 8th – 10th May: Town Hall Theatre, Galway 13th – 17th May: Civic Theatre, Tallaght 20th – 24th May: The Helix, Dublin 9 26th – 31st May: The Belltable, Limerick 3rd – 7th June: Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire 10th – 11th June: Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris 14th – 15th June: Weisbaden, German 24th – 28th June: New Haven, Connecticut 2007: Tricycle Theatre, London Tivoli Theatre, Dublin Theatre Festival |
Critical Praise for The Pride of Parnell Street
‘lovingly acted… written in the artful style you have come to associate with Mr. Barry, in which rambling, vernacular talk assumes the music and patterns of poetry. And as directed by Jim Culleton, Ms. Murray and Mr. Kelly share a gift for sensually summoning the fractured present of people for whom the past seems far more vivid than anything since. Both, in other words, are a pleasure to watch and listen to. Mr. Culleton always keeps them onstage at the same time, so you’re aware of the omnipresence of each in the other’s life. Sabine Dargent’s subtly divided set and Mark Galione’s lighting suggest a couple eternally connected and divided, like lovers in a ghost story.’
Ben Brantley, New York Times ‘exquisitely phrased…intensely powerful conclusion… superb acting from Murray and Shiels,’ ★★★★ The Times ‘The performances, from Mary Murray and Karl Shiels, are beautifully measured and the writing is very fine’ Daily Telegraph 'The play is quiveringly beautiful… quite simply magnificent’ Sunday Independent ‘Given that Barry writes in a honeyed prose spiked with a wormwood humour, and the monologues are performed with exquisite restraint by Mary Murray and Karl Shiels, there is hardly a dry eye in the house by the end.’ The Guardian ‘Karl Shiels is very strong as rough, remorseful Joe and Mary Murray is excellent as brave, candid Janet…Barry writes so well, with compassion for his characters and love of the Dublin dialect, that the play draws you in.’ Financial Times ‘the play is quiveringly beautiful… direction is iron-fisted in its subtlety and quietude… designed with stark beauty…performances are quite simply magnificent’ Sunday Independent ‘Under Jim Culleton's sure direction, the two actors give their all and bring us an opportunity to meet those whom most theatre goers never will.’ The British Theatre Guide ‘Barry’s excellent script is laced with lucid humour… so powerfully delivered that it will hardly leave a dry eye in the house… affecting, moving and unmissable theatre… highly recommended.’ RTE.ie ‘Absolutely fantastic… the writing is absolutely beautiful… an amazing piece of theatre’ The View – RTE TV ‘powerful central performances’ Theatremania |
‘Directed and performed with deft beauty… Jim Culleton’s touch throughout is sure… a masterpiece of restraint and controlled emotion’
The Sunday Tribune ‘Both actors give excellent performances’ **** ★★★★ Time Out ‘Barry turns simple language into delicate, luminous poetry…With Jim Culleton’s spare direction and Murray and Shiels’s outstanding performances, it makes for a deeply affecting evening’ ★★★★ The Metro, London ‘Under the secure direction of Jim Culleton, the talented Kelly and Murray turn this language into authentic arias. Kelly, in the more difficult role, is still the real thing, while Murray as the woebegone wife is able to suffuse Janet with a genuine charm.’ Backstage ‘a breathtakingly effective memory play… Kelly and Murray are consummate performers… Jim Culleton directs Barry’s words with a subtlety and rhythm that are beautifully balanced… “The Pride of Parnell Street” is the first New York production from the Ireland-based Fishamble: The New Play Company, and also one of the first entries in the 1st IRISH theater festival that runs through October. If this gem is any prediction of signs to come, locals will have a tremendous opportunity to experience first-rate Irish theater. “The Pride of Parnell Street” is quite simply brilliant… Joe and Janet will stay with you beyond the final blackout.’ The Leader, New York ‘Under the secure direction of Jim Culleton, the talented Kelly and Murray turn this language into authentic arias. Kelly, in the more difficult role, is still the real thing, while Murray as the woebegone wife is able to suffuse Janet with a genuine charm…This is a feat that shows strikingly what can be done when a writer, director and actors combine their enormous talent and overcome impossible odds in a real triumph.’ Curtain Up ‘one of the most honest, subtle, and intricate explorations of “the relationship” seen on stage in recent memory.’ NYTheater.com ‘Wrenchingly heartfelt…so gripping…a remarkable turn from Murray, reinforced by commendably unfussy direction from Jim Culleton’ Evening Standard ‘Fishamble’s production quite stunningly realises its potential… an utterly absorbing evening’ The Sunday Business Post ‘the performances in this Fishamble Theatre Company production, imported from Dublin as part of the 59E59 Theaters’ 1st Irish festival, couldn’t be better.’ New York Post |