Plays for Schools
In our Priming the Canon series, we create plays for young people and perform them in schools, libraries and arts centres all over Ireland. We have also performed for children in America. With pre and post-show workshops and online learning materials, we bring classic Irish plays into the heart of the classroom. The following shows have been seen by more than 24,000 young people… so far!
Me, Mollser
Mary-Lou McCarthy (Mollser) © Neil Harrison
Sharp eyed and indomitable Mollser is only fifteen years old when she appears in O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars. Against the background of the Lockout and the Easter Rising she introduces us to her overcrowded tenement and tries to work out how she ended up in your school hall.
Character from The Plough and the Stars
Written by Ali White
Directed by Sarah FitzGibbon
Me, Michael
Set in Donegal in 1936, Michael from Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, tells us about the day he first met his father. In his world of strong women and absent men this open-hearted boy uses music and dance to survive the prejudices of small town rural life.
Character from Dancing at Lughnasa
Written by Tara McKevitt
Directed by Dan Colley
Me, Sara
Sara Tansey from Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World shows how a young woman’s frustration with her father opens her eyes to her own shortcomings. Passionate Sara lives in a world where people are made by the stories they tell and sometimes she has to choose between those and the truth.
Character from The Playboy of the Western World
Written by Dylan Coburn Gray
Directed by Amy Conroy
Mise, Mícheál
Áine Ní Laoghaire (Mícheál) © Ros Kavanagh
I nDún na nGall atá sé suite sa bhliain 1936. Is buachaill é Mícheál as Dancing at Lughnasa le Friel agus insíonn sé dúinn faoin lá ar chas sé lena athair den chéad uair. Sa saol atá aige ina bhfuil mná láidre agus fir atá as láthair, baineann an buachaill seo a bhfuil croí mór maith aige leas as an gceol agus an damhsa chun teacht slán ó chlaontachtaí shaol tuaithe an bhaile bhig.
Character from Dancing at Lughnasa
Written by Tara McKevitt
Translated by Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
Directed by Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
2018 Mise Mícheál, Achmhainí do Mhúinteoirí
If you would like us to perform in your primary school, please contact phil.kingston@abbeytheatre.ie
Study Packs
Download our study packs:
2024 Na Peirsigh Persians, Study Pack
2019 The Country Girls, Study Pack
2018 Asking for It, Study Pack
2016 The Plough and the Stars, Study Pack
2015 The Shadow of a Gunman, Study Pack
2015 By The Bog of Cats, Study Pack
2015 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Study Pack
To request additional study packs, please email phil.kingston@abbeytheatre.ie
Theatre Making & Citizenship
Theatre Making and Citizenship is designed for Junior Cert level. Developed by artist Sarah FitzGibbon in collaboration with teacher Maire O’Higgins of Larkin Community College in Dublin this 100-hour course gives young citizens an opportunity to explore social issues through drama and theatre. By connecting Civil Social and Political Education work with a variety of practical theatre skills the students learn to see the importance of the arts in the life of their communities. Their engagement is supported by visits to plays and an extensive workbook of lesson plans and teacher’s resources.
To get involved email phil.kingston@abbeytheatre.ie