I grew up on the northwest coast of Ireland, in a small town perched on the edge of Europe—a place where the lessons of my forebears are carried on the wind, in the sea spray, and in the stories we tell. That legacy is held in the rocks and stones beneath our feet, in the persistence of our people. It is a part of Ireland that is economically poor, wild, and wet, where buildings rarely endure the passage of time but where the oral traditions, the music and stories carry.
Walking through Treviso, placing my hand on centuries-old buildings and inns that survived wars, floods, and time itself, I feel the brilliance of human endeavor stretching back to Goldoni and before. Here, in streets like these, Carlo Goldoni wrote La locandiera in 1753, creating Mirandolina—a woman who is witty, self-reliant, and clever, navigating a world dominated by men while asserting her independence. Goldoni’s play celebrates intelligence and autonomy while quietly exposing misogyny and the fragility of male authority. He wrote about what he saw happening around him. I am sure Goldoni’s enduring talent remains in our canon because his work focused on all of us, ordinary people, everyday life, and social observation. He used his understanding of comedy to bring us in and then he stripped away the masks and exposed us to ourselves with all our foibles, flaws and idiosyncrasies, and in doing so he set the stage for Verismo literature and 20th-century Italian social realism.
Over a century and a half later, in 1910, Lady Augusta Gregory, co-founder of the National Theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre, brought Mirandolina to Irish audiences. Gregory’s adaptation was more than translation; she chose and shaped European classics to fit in “key with our country comedies,” making them live for Irish actors and audiences. She understood that theatre could introduce new ideas, reflect society, and challenge perceptions—all while entertaining.
In this production, Marina Carr inhabits Mirandolina with her signature intensity and insight. Her work as a playwright has always been fearless, exploring the complexities of women’s lives, desire, and the risks they navigate in asserting agency. Here, she places Mirandolina in an Italian restaurant in Dublin, highlighting how charm, wit, and resilience remain necessary tools for women in a world still rife with danger and inequality.
Today in 2026, as an Irish breeze blows past the ancient buildings of Veneto, when Ireland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and as the Winter Olympics take place in Milan and Cortina, we are reminded of our place within Europe. It is thanks to Monica Capuani and Filippo Dini that Mirandolina is part of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad, linking Irish theatre to international collaboration, history, and cultural dialogue. This co-production is a reminder that art can say what politics often cannot: it crosses borders, opens conversations, and illuminates truths about power, society, and human courage.
From Goldoni’s Milan, to Gregory’s Dublin, to Carr’s contemporary stage, Mirandolina is a conversation across centuries. It celebrates wit, resilience, and agency, and it challenges us to confront the structures of power that remain too familiar. In seeing Mirandolina’s intelligence and defiance, we see not just the brilliance of past generations, but the urgent relevance of theatre in our own time.
Mirandolina has its world premiere in Treviso, Italy, on Thursday, 4th February 2026, before touring to Belluno, Venice, Padua, Verona, Rijeka, and Milan. Then arriving to Dublin, it will be performed on the Abbey Stage from Friday, 28th August – Saturday, 5th September 2026, and forms part of the cultural programming around Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.