A Whistle in the Dark
- Lyttelton - National Theatre
- Booking details
- Booking from: To be announced Booking until: To be announced
A Whistle in the Dark description
About the Show
Michael Carney has left Ireland for Coventry and built something quieter for himself there. Then his father and brothers arrive, bringing with them the code of loyalty and violence he thought he had got away from, and the night turns on whether he can hold a line against his own people. A Whistle in the Dark is about emigration, masculinity and the family you cannot resign from.
Tom Murphy wrote it in his twenties. The Abbey Theatre turned it down and it premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1961, where its violence startled critics; it is now regarded as one of the founding plays of modern Irish drama. This production runs in the Lyttelton Theatre in repertory with Death of a Salesman, and afterwards plays at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin from 13-30 October 2027 as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival.
Cast and Creatives
The play is by Tom Murphy, whose The Gigli Concert and Bailegangaire are also mainstays of the Irish repertoire. The director is Caitríona McLaughlin, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, which co-produces.
Paul Mescal leads the repertory company, having won an Olivier Award for A Streetcar Named Desire and been nominated for an Academy Award for Aftersun. The company also includes Ciarán Hinds, an Academy Award nominee for Belfast, with Peter Corboy, Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty, Ryan Donaldson, Aisling Loftus and Julian Moore-Cook.
Why You Should Watch It
A ferocious Irish classic, a company you can also see in Death of a Salesman, and one of the few chances to watch true repertory theatre in London. Book tickets to see it.
