Medicine

Written & directed by Enda Walsh
Starring Clare Barrett, Aoife Duffin & Domhnall Gleeson
with Sean Carpio

How long have you been here, John? I don’t know.

And what’s 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. 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.

Galway International Arts Festival and Landmark Productions are partnering once more to bring to the stage a new play by Enda Walsh. Medicine will receive its world premiere performance at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival in August prior to its opening at GIAF 2021 in September. Medicine is the latest co-production from Landmark and GIAF the team who brought you Walsh’s Misterman, Ballyturk and Arlington.

Medicine is a dark and frequently absurdist work that shatters the boundary between cast and audience: actors are interrupted by crew members, technical mechanics happen on stage, and performance becomes a kind of therapy. The audience’s laughter becomes complicit in the creation of a surreal universe that shifts abruptly into moments of emotional poignancy. Medicine is a devastatingly funny and moving meditation on how, for decades, we have treated those we call mentally ill.

This production 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. Walsh returns 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.

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.

In-Person Performances, Black Box Theatre Thurs 2 – Sat 18 September Tickets on sale Friday 4 June at 9am (max 2 tickets per booking) www.giaf.ie

Livestream Performances 8pm Wed 15, Thurs 16, Fri 17 & Sat 18 September Tickets on sale Friday 11 June at 9am www.giaf.ie

Watch On Demand 20-26 September Tickets on sale Friday 11 June at 9am www.giaf.ie

**Please note that under current government public health guidelines capacity at this event is limited to 50 people. Maximum two tickets per booking.

The venue capacity may increase to 100 in August, pending government guidelines. Stay tuned to giaf.ie and GIAF's social media channels for any updates.