written and directed by Enda Walsh
starring Clare Barrett, Aoife Duffin and Domhnall Gleeson, with Sean CarpioLandmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Welcome to a work–in–progress showing of a new play by Enda Walsh. Medicine is a devastatingly funny and moving meditation on how, for decades, we have treated those we call mentally ill.
How long have you been here, John?
I don’t know.
And what brought you here?
That’s difficult to answer.
The stage directions say that the audience will be looking at a rehearsal space or perhaps a sound stage, a studio of some sort. Maybe it’s just a stage in a theatre. A man called John Kane is sitting on a hospital gurney, and very shortly a jazz percussionist, two women called Mary, a very old man and a giant lobster will arrive.
Then everything will start.
This work–in–progress showing features a sensational cast – Clare Barrett, Aoife Duffin and Domhnall Gleeson, accompanied by Sean Carpio – as Enda Walsh once again shines a light on the darkest corners of our collective stories. Working with his regular team of world–class collaborators – designers Jamie Vartan [set], Adam Silverman [lighting], Helen Atkinson [sound], Joan O’Clery [costume] and composer Teho Teardo – the production will premiere at GIAF 2021.
Enda Walsh’s recent work includes the musical Sing Street; the stage adaptation of Max Porter’s book Grief is the Thing with Feathers; The Same; The Second Violinist, an opera with Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy; the musical Lazarus, written with David Bowie; and the ongoing immersive theatre installations Rooms, made with Paul Fahy. He won a Tony Award for writing the book of the musical Once.
Medicine is supported by the Arts Council. The production will premiere at Galway International Arts Festival in July 2021.
Tickets Update: Please note that tickets for this work-in-progress showing are now sold out.