The Colleen Bawn

Project are doing something a bit different this summer: a six week run of Dion Boucicault's The Colleen Bawn (until 4 September) which then tours to the Civic Theatre in Tallaght, Draiocht in Blanchardstown, the George Bernard Shaw in Carlow and the Everyman in Cork. Land, greed, class, religion and sexual desire are all in the mix in this classic Irish drama written in 1860, the story of a family in crisis where the importance of love is outweighed by the lure of financial gain. By turn dark, impassioned and exhilarating, you can expect some high energy from this Bedrock production, directed by Jimmy Fay. www.projectartscentre.ie

This Is Our Youth

After a bit of a gap – their most recent appearance was last October with the surreal Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons – Bedrock are back in town with the Irish premiere of This Is Our Youth, an acerbic New York comedy from the pen of Kenneth Lonergan (of Analyze This and Gangs of New York fame). It’s 1982 Manhattan, and 3 narcissistic slackers with rich parents and no direction waste away their pampered lives in a mess of doped-up squalor, early harbingers of the quick-fix, greed is good generation. Lonnergan’s 1996 play – his first big success – is a darkly satiric mix of the cruel and compassionate, both witty and devastating. It’s directed by Jimmy Fay, back with Bedrock after an impressive stint at the Abbey (including Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon and Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer) and features Conor Madden, Charlie Murphy and Ciaran O’Brien. It previews at Project on Wed 17 June, opens on Thurs 18 and runs til Sat 27. www.project.ie