Abbey Theatre’s New Play: "This Is A Love Letter to Dublin”

In Our Veins, a new play from Lee Coffey, follows a family through 100 years of Dublin history, from the notorious madams of the Monto, to love affairs in the dark tenements. When lifelong Dublin docker Patrick passes away, his beloved wife Esther recounts to his family a never before heard tale. This is a story of a Dublin City that no longer exists, where it came from and the people that built it.

Lee Coffey is one of the most insightful and exciting new voices in Irish theatre. The Dublin based writer was a participant in the prestigious Rough Magic SEEDS programme in 2017, in the 2018 New Playwrights Programme at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and now in Six In The Attic, an Irish Theatre Institute initiative to support emerging talent. He is a founding member of the award-winning theatre company Bitter Like a Lemon. In Our Veins is a co-production between Abbey Theatre and Bitter Like A Lemon.

Speaking about this production, Coffey said: "This is a love letter to Dublin, in every sense. Putting a lens up to a world that no longer exists and that will never exist again. With the help of The Dublin Dockworkers Preservation Society and The North Inner City Folklore Project’s publications of Dublin’s social history, I hoped to put a mirror up to now by taking you back to a forgotten world. A world of tough choices, hardship and survival where human kindness knew no bounds, as the dark and unforgiving world took everything."

In Our Veins is the first of two Dublin Port Company commissions to be staged at Ireland’s National Theatre in 2019 as part of the Port Perspectives Initiative – the second being Last Orders at the Dockside by Dermot Bolger .

Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port Company, said: “We have been hugely impressed by Bitter Like a Lemon, a young theatre company with some powerful productions already under its belt. We are looking forward to seeing In Our Veins take to the stage and bring the port story to life. It’s the first of three productions in Dublin Port’s year of theatre commissions, and we can’t wait to see how Lee and his team have responded to the brief.”

Directed by Maisie Lee, the talented cast includes Cast: Ian Lloyd Anderson, Catherine Byrne, Gerard Byrne, Aisling O'Mara, Jack Mullarkey and Amilia Stewart.

The production opens on 11 April and runs until 20 April, with an Abbey Theatre Free First Preview on 10 April 2019. Tickets are selling fast and can be purchased through the Abbey Theatre here.