Laois woman's new play to be staged at world famous Abbey Theatre

The world famous Abbey Theatre is set to stage a new play written by a Laois woman with the backing of the Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise during the prestigious Dublin Theatre Festival.

Once Off Productions presents 'Guest Host Stranger Ghost' by writer and Portloaise woman Kate Heffernan. Set against the backdrop of Ireland's housing crisis, it's described as a hilarious and heart-rending cry for a moment of stillness in a life of transience.

The Dublin Theatre Festival will mark the world premiere of the production which apart from the Abbey will also be staged at the famous Gate Theatre.

Kate Heffernan is a playwright and theatre artist from Derrygarran in Portlaoise where she lives and works. Her first play, In Dog Years I’m Dead (directed by Maisie Lee), won the 2013 Stewart Parker Trust Emerging Playwright Award.

Kate has a long history with Portlaoise's Dunamaise Arts Centre, as both employee and theatre artist. In 2014, she was theatre artist in residence at Dunamaise with director Maisie Lee, where she wrote Hometroots, a series of short radio plays by, for and about the people of Laois. Dunamaise are supporting the production of Guest Host Stranger Ghost, where they hosted the team for the first week of rehearsals.

Heffernan’s story is about living in someone else’s home, where a mismatched trio rent a house owned by an elderly woman now living her last days in nursing care. Unlikely housemates, they try to find a connection in the short time they’re here – and a space for themselves amongst the stuff of her entire life.

"Playful and boldly inventive, this vagabond new play will criss-cross the city to borrow the stages of other festival productions. With no two performances taking place on the same set, each iteration will offer a completely unique encounter," said a statement.

Her new play is said to speak directly to Ireland’s housing crisis and the subsequent precarious living scenarios. The show contains conversations about sex and death.

Peat, Kate's first play for children (directed by Tim Crouch), was commissioned and produced by The Ark in 2019. In 2023, The Ark staged a rehearsed reading of Always the Two of Us, a documentary theatre script commissioned by the Ark in partnership with One Family, based on conversations with men and women who grew up in one-parent families in Ireland over the past 50 years.

Kate was the recipient of an Abbey Theatre Commemoration Bursary in 2021, through which she developed Stories from the End of the Garden, a play about siblings and loss, and a story of war from the perspective of children. The Abbey completed a pilot project in 2023, using the text as the basis for process drama in classrooms. Kate is an associate artist with Theatre Lovett, and the writer and designer of their acclaimed show programme series for young audiences.

Kate's play is directed by Eoghan Carrick with lighting design by Sarah Jane Shiels while Cally Shine and Maura O’Keeffe are the creative producers. The cast is Finbarr Doyle, Shadaan Felfeli, and Maeve O’Mahony

The Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 runs from September 26 to October . It includes over 30 productions with various themes.

If you want to see Kate's play during the Festival the are the listings are below the cast picture.

Project Arts Centre (Upstairs), East Essex St., Temple Bar

Thursday 3 October @ 4.00pm / €25; Saturday 12 October @ 3.00pm / 

€25 Project Box Office - Tel: 01 881 9613 / https://projectartscentre.ie/

DTF Box Office – https://dublintheatrefestival.ie/event/guest-host-stranger-ghost/

Project Arts Centre (Cube), East Essex St., Temple Bar

Saturday 5 October @ 1.00pm / €25; Friday 11 October @ 1.00pm / €25       

Project Box Office - Tel: 01 881 9613 / https://projectartscentre.ie/

DTF Box Office – https://dublintheatrefestival.ie/event/guest-host-stranger-ghost/

Smock Alley Theatre

Friday 4 and Friday 11 October @ 4.00pm / €25

Smock Box Office - Tel: 01 677 0014 / https://smockalley.com/

DTF Box Office – https://dublintheatrefestival.ie/event/guest-host-stranger-ghost/

Gate Theatre (as part of the Gate Theatre Crashes series)

Tuesday 8 October @ 4.00pm / €25

Gate Box Office - Tel: 01 874 4045 / https://www.gatetheatre.ie/production/gatecrashes-guest-host-stranger-ghost/

DTF Box Office – https://dublintheatrefestival.ie/event/guest-host-stranger-ghost

Abbey Theatre

Thursday 10 October @ 4pm / €25

Abbey Box Office - Tel: (01) 878 7222

DTF Box Office – https://dublintheatrefestival.ie/event/guest-host-stranger-ghost/

For more see www.dublintheatrefestival.ie