Fishamble: The New Play Company
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  • Home
  • About
    • Board & Governance
    • Community Engagement
    • Meet the Team
    • Research
    • Encore
    • News
  • Productions
    • HEAVEN
    • In Two Minds
    • FIGHT NIGHT
    • The Black Wolfe Tone
    • Pat Kinevane Plays
      • KING
      • Before
      • Silent
      • Forgotten
      • Underneath
    • OUTRAGE
    • BREAKING
    • TAIGH/TŶ/TEACH
      • TAIGH/TŶ/TEACH Programme
    • Mustard
    • "Certain Individual Women"
    • 35 years of Fishamble
  • Artist Supports
    • Cruising the Boards Workshop
    • Transatlantic Commissions Residency
    • Big Ambitions
    • Playwriting Courses
    • New Play Clinic
    • Send Us Your Writing
    • Fishamble New Writing Award
    • Mentoring & Workshops
  • Tiny Plays
    • Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future
    • Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future Challenge
    • Tiny Plays 24/7
    • #TinyPlayChallenge
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland and America
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland 2
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland
  • Support Fishamble
    • Become a Friend
    • Donate
    • Corporate Membership
    • Sponsorship
    • Thank you
  • Calendar
  • Education
  • Contact
  • Shop
3 Great Denmark Street
Dublin 1, Ireland
D01 NV63

[email protected]
+353 1 670 4018
@fishamble



Registered Charity
No. CHY 20103958.
​
​
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Photo by Anthony Woods
Filmed by MediaCoop, promo image by Publicis Dublin.

Fishamble: The New Play Company
in association with Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Port Company presents

Embargo
​By Deirdre Kinahan

Three souls caught up in the violent winds of change....

In September 1920, during the War of Independence, dockers and railwaymen refused to transport any armed troops, or to handle any weapons arriving from Britain.

​On the centenary of this act of civil resistance, Fishamble staged a site-responsive production in association with Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Port Company, 
and streamed it on Sun 11 October live from the Pumphouse in Dublin Port, as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival 2020.

Embargo is a muddy, complicated, poetic, bloody, and heroic tale of a politically motivated industrial action, in which three characters deal with a pivotal moment during the Irish war of independence.

These are our ghosts, their story is our story.
​


​'a fantastic performance in new circumstances'
President Michael D Higgins
 
'A brave, strongly acted production from the ever-reliable Fishamble'
★★★★ Irish Times 

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Embargo has been commissioned by Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Port Company.

Supported by the Department of Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Archive images used in the production are Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.
Donate to Fishamble to support our work and the arts workers that create it

Performances 2020

11 - 25 Oct
ONLINE
As Part of Dublin Theatre Festival
11 Dec &
19 - 23 Dec
ONLINE
As Part of The Pumphouse Presents
Read our show programme

Created by

Written by Deirdre Kinahan
Directed by Maisie Lee
​

Produced by Eva Scanlan
 
Lighting & Set Design by Zia Bergin-Holly
​Music & Sound Design by Denis Clohessy
Costume Design by Catherine Fay
Hair & Make Up by Val Sherlock
 
Artistic Director  Jim Culleton 
Dramaturg Gavin Kostick 

Production Manager Eoin Kilkenny 
Stage Manager Steph Ryan 
Assistant Stage Manager Sarah Purcell 
​Wardrobe Supervisor Cathy Connell 

Dialect Coach Gavin O’Donoghue 
Covid Officer & Production Coordinator Ronan Carey 
Marketing Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan
 
Dublin Port Company:
Port Heritage Director Lar Joye                      
Head of Special Projects Jim Kelleher               
Dublin Port PMO Colin Hartford      

Iarnród Éireann: 

Events & PR Manager Jane Cregan               
Corporate Communications Officer Hayley Durnin            
​Chief LX Gary Maguire

Lighting Crew Suzie Cummins, Cillian McNamara 
Sound Operator  James Blake
Stage Crew Vincent Doherty, Hugh Roberts, Damien Woods
Set Construction Ger Clancy
Set Scenic Eugenia Genunchi
Production Support Production Services Ireland and One Louder Sound
Transport Trevor Price Ltd.
 
Press & Publicity by O’Doherty Communications
Graphic Design by Publicis
Promotional Photography by Mattieu Chardon
Production Photography by Anthony Woods
Filmed by Media Coop
​​​

Cast

Callan Cummins
Matthew Malone
​Mary Murray

Reviews

​'a fantastic performance in new circumstances'
President Michael D Higgins
 
'A brave, strongly acted production from the ever-reliable Fishamble'
★★★★ Irish Times
 
'painted a powerful picture …the characters worked seamlessly together, with the directing and staging capturing their shifting power dynamic'
University Times
'atmospheric...engaging and provocative...'
★★★★ Sunday Business Post
 
'totally engrossing'
 Irish Independent

Production Shots

Photo credit Anthony Woods

Archive Image credits
Archive images used in the production are courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.
Images from Jacob's Biscuit archives courtesy Valeo Foods/Dublin City Library and Archive.
Images from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are in the Public Domain from  www.lacma.org.

The Pumphouse Presents
Embargo will be screened in November as part of The Pumphouse Presents which marks the commencement of works to create a two acre heritage zone on Alexandra Road in the heart of Dublin Port.  Comprising of five theatre pieces, both new and previously staged, The Pumphouse Presents will screen the plays on Dublin Port Company’s YouTube channel over five weeks as the days darken and as the country endures a pandemic.  The five pieces are offered as a reminder of what we have temporarily had to forego and what we hope to be able to enjoy again as the days begin to lengthen. The pieces are also a statement of  Dublin Port’s intent to programme events in the new heritage zone based on Dublin and its port’s rich heritage.

Acknowledgements
​Deirdre Kinahan would like to dedicate this play to Gerardette Bailey, and thanks all the ghosts for spinning round her.
 
Fishamble extends its special thanks to Jane Cregan, Hayley Durnin, and all at Iarnród Éireann; Lar Joye, Jim Kelleher, Eamonn O’Reilly, Colin Hartford, Declan Sullivan PMO, Thomas Kavanagh, the Port Heritage and Communications team, John Coady & Tom Downes of Roadbridge Construction site team, and all at Dublin Port Company; Laura MacNaughton, Aoife McCollumn and all at the O’Reilly Theatre; Willie White, Maria Fleming and Stephen McManus from Dublin Theatre Festival; Francois Gray, Colin Norris, and all at Media Coop; Peter Rigney and the Irish Railway Record Society; Cine Electric Ltd; John ‘Miley’ Walsh, Declan Byrne and the Dublin Docklands Preservation Society; The Board, Friends, and supporters of Fishamble; Rachel West, Maureen Kennelly, Liz Meaney and all at the Arts Council; Ray Yeates, Sinead Connolly and all at Dublin City Council Arts Office; Conor Falvey, Rónán Whelan, Mary Nash, Sinead Copeland, and all at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media; Gráinne Mac Lochlainn and all at NLI; Siobhán Bourke, Jane Daly and all at Irish Theatre Institute; Christine Sisk, Ciarán Walsh, Valerie Behan and all at Culture Ireland, and finally, to our stalwart team of all the artists and arts workers, who have brought this production to life against all the odds.

Meet the Team

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Deirdre Kinahan
​
Writer
Deirdre is an award winning playwright and a member of Aosdána, Ireland’s elected body of outstanding artists. Her work is translated into many languages, published by Nick Hern Books and produced regularly in Ireland and on the International stage. Most recent work: The Abbey Theatre Dublin (Dear Ireland, and The Unmanageable Sisters – a new version of Les Belles-Soeurs by Michel Tremblay), Old Vic London (Renewed with Julie Walters), Fishamble Theatre Company/Abbey Theatre (Rathmines Road), Solas Nua Washington (Frederick Douglas Project), Penatabus Theatre Company UK (Crossings).  

2020 will see a world premiere of. EMBARGO for Fishamble. Plays include: Rathmines Road, Crossings, Unmanageable Sisters, Wild Sky, Spinning, Halcyon Days, Bogboy, Moment, Hue & Cry
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Maisie Lee
Director
Recent work includes Project Arts Centre and ADI’s ‘The Spider’s House’ by Roderick Ford; ‘In our Veins’ by Lee Coffey, an Abbey Theatre and Bitter Like a Lemon Co Production in Association with Dublin Port Company; ‘The Ash Fire’ for The Lir Academy; ‘Normal’ by Caitríona Daly, Dublin Fringe and Bewley’s Café Theatre; ‘DNA’ for Backstage Theatre, Longford; ‘A Christmas Carol’ for The Ark; Revolution Radio for RTE2FM; ‘Our Island’ by Barry McStay, Dublin Fringe and 'In Dog Years I'm Dead' by Kate Heffernan (winner of Stewart Parker Trust Award). Maisie is currently Artist in Residence in Backstage Theatre Longford.
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Callan Cummins
Jack
Callan Cummins is an actor from Phisboro Dublin and graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2019. 
He has last appeared in Restoration by Shaun Dunne in the Project Arts Centre and Below Below directed by Raymond Keane in the main space of Smock Alley Theatre.
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Matthew Malone
Gracie
Matthew is an actor and theatre-maker. He completed training at The Lir Academy in 2018 and holds a degree in Drama and English from Trinity College. He most recently appeared in The 24hr Plays (Abbey Theatre) and Faultline, an ANU and Gate Theatre co-production which he co-developed (Best Supporting Actor Nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards). Other theatre credits include: Susie and the Story Shredder (Bombinate), Lúminaria (dir. Maisie Lee), So Where Do We Begin (Sugar Coat), Assassins and The Critic (Rough Magic). Screen credits include: Miss Scarlet and the Duke (A+E), Dad (RTÉ), The Professionals (Most Media), and The Messenger (Scorpio Studio). 
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Mary Murray
Jane
Mary is delighted to be working with Fishamble again. She was recently in Fishamble’s TINY PLAYS 24/7, and was in the original Tiny Plays which toured to Washington after a very successful run in Ireland. She also toured extensively with Fishamble in The Pride of Parnell Street and Noah and the Tower Flower. Mary’s stage performances have taken her to China, Europe and the United States and she’s picked up best actress and supporting actress awards with MAMCA and The First Irish Theatre Festival in New York and The Irish Times.
​
On screen she’s best known for playing Janet in Love Hate. Other highly acclaimed productions include Penny Dreadful, Adam and Paul, The Magdalene Sisters and Dead Still which has just been released in U.S. and Canada with glowing reviews. Mary is the director of www.visionsdrama.com You can find out more about her on her website Facebook or YouTube . @marmurray
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Zia Bergin-Holly Lighting and Set Design
Zia Bergin-Holly is an award winning lighting and set designer working internationally in theatre, dance, opera and live music events. Her stage set and lighting designs include Solar Bones (Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival), The Misfits (Corn Exchange), User Not Found (Dante or Die), They Called Her Vivaldi (Theatre Lovett). She also designed the set for the Olympia Theatre, Dublin performances of GRACE JONES concerts for Bloodlight and Bamiby Blinder Films. Recent lighting designs include Two (HullTruck Theatre), Flights (One Duck Theatre), Promises Promises (Centrál Színház Budapest), Top Hat (Silver Blue Entertainment) and Bread Not Profits (Gúna Nua).
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Denis Clohessy
Sound Design and Composition
Denis Clohessy has previously worked with Fishamble, including the productions The Alternative, On Blueberry Hill, The Pride of Parnell Street, Silent, Underneath, Spinning, Mainstream and Strandline. He has also produced work for theatre and dance with The Abbey Theatre, The Gate Theatre, Rough Magic, Corn Exchange, Junk Ensemble and many others. He won the Irish Times theatre award for Best Design Sound in 2011 for Rough Magic’s Sodome, My Love, he was a nominee in 2015 (for Junk Ensemble’s ‘It Folds), was an associate artist with the Abbey in 2008 and was a participant on Rough Magic’s ADVANCE programme in 2012.  His work in Film and Television includes the films Older than Ireland (Snack box Films), The Irish Pub (Atom Films), His and Hers (Venom Film), The Land of the Enlightened (Savage Film), In View (Underground Cinema), The Reluctant Revolutionary (Underground Films) and the television series Limits of Liberty (South Wind Blows) performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra. He won the Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Soundscape in 2011 and 2019, and was a nominee in 2015.
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Catherine Fay
Costume Design
Catherine has designed for Theatre, Opera and Dance, most recently, Transmission (Little Wolf) for DFF 2020, Much Ado about Nothing (Rough Magic Theatre Company) Näher…..nearer, closer, sooner (Liz Roche Dance Company) The Return of Ulysses (Opera Collective Ireland) and The Plough and the Stars (Lyric Hammersmith / Abbey Theatre). She designed Girl Song (United Fall) 12 Minute Dances, Totems (Liz Roche Dance Company) Owen Wingrave (Opera Collective Ireland) Acis and Galatea (Opera Theatre Company) The Importance of Nothing (Pan Pan Theatre Company) and Owen Wingrave (Opera Bastille, Paris, 2016). She has designed many productions for The Abbey Theatre including The Plough and the Stars (Irish Times Theatre Award nomination 2017) Our Few and Evil Days, (Irish Times Theatre Award nomination 2015) Henry IV Part I (Irish Times/ESB Theatre Award nomination 2007). For The Gate she has designed Romeo and Juliet (Irish Times Theatre Award nomination 2016) and The Threepenny Opera. Other work includes Breaking Dad (Landmark Productions)  (Irish Times Theatre Award nomination 2015) and DOGS (Emma Martin Dance)(Winner Best Production and Best Design for ABSOLUT Fringe Festival 2012)
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Fishamble: The New Play Company is supported by

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©2025 Fishamble Theatre Company All Rights Reserved.
Registered Company No. 168484. Registered Charity No. CHY 20103958.
Fishamble Theatre Company is a not for profit organisation and a registered charity with a valid charitable taxation exemption from the Revenue Commissioners.

Privacy Policy ​
  • Home
  • About
    • Board & Governance
    • Community Engagement
    • Meet the Team
    • Research
    • Encore
    • News
  • Productions
    • HEAVEN
    • In Two Minds
    • FIGHT NIGHT
    • The Black Wolfe Tone
    • Pat Kinevane Plays
      • KING
      • Before
      • Silent
      • Forgotten
      • Underneath
    • OUTRAGE
    • BREAKING
    • TAIGH/TŶ/TEACH
      • TAIGH/TŶ/TEACH Programme
    • Mustard
    • "Certain Individual Women"
    • 35 years of Fishamble
  • Artist Supports
    • Cruising the Boards Workshop
    • Transatlantic Commissions Residency
    • Big Ambitions
    • Playwriting Courses
    • New Play Clinic
    • Send Us Your Writing
    • Fishamble New Writing Award
    • Mentoring & Workshops
  • Tiny Plays
    • Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future
    • Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future Challenge
    • Tiny Plays 24/7
    • #TinyPlayChallenge
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland and America
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland 2
    • Tiny Plays for Ireland
  • Support Fishamble
    • Become a Friend
    • Donate
    • Corporate Membership
    • Sponsorship
    • Thank you
  • Calendar
  • Education
  • Contact
  • Shop