Ireland's National Theatre has brought a brand new show to the city centre, coveting a dreamy 1930's Dublin where love, insults and scandal are the currency in the Abbey Theatre's revival of 'Youth's The Season'.
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Written when Mary Manning was 26 and first performed in 1931, this startlingly modern coming-of-age satire explores the ups and downs of life for privileged young Irish people in newly independent Dublin.
Mary Manning’s plays were extremely popular with audiences of their time and this 2025 production will offer the opportunity to revisit this precious gem from the Irish theatre canon. As Abbey Artistic Director Caitríona McLaughlin says, ”I believe the combination of Sarah Jane Scaife and Mary Manning is a thrilling prospect, and I cannot wait to bring this production before an audience.”
Commenting on the play, Sarah Jane Scaife said: “When I read Youth’s The Season -? I was really surprised at how different the world it presented felt… It was from a young, female, urban perspective. It was funny but in a caustic way, which felt very recognisable to me. The sense of angst, boredom and frustration for what society had on offer to young women or young men who didn’t conform to the stereotype of Irish society, was familiar in a very real way for me. What is so interesting today is recognising that all the same frustrations, the fears of war, the anxiety of being different or not fitting in that are experienced by the youth today, are written into this play which was written by a young woman in her early twenties, in 1930.”
Youth’s the Season -? is part of the Gregory Project at the Abbey Theatre, a body of work celebrating the legacy of Abbey Theatre co-founder Augusta Gregory.
Dates:
2 April 2025 – 3 May 2025
Times:
Mon – Sat 7.30pm
Sat matinees 2pm
Wed matinees 2pm on 23 and 30 April
Tickets: €15 – €49
Content advice: Please see here if you would like information on the themes in this production.
For full details on what's on this season, see theabbeytheatre.ie
