Moat theatre presents 'Eden'

It’s Saturday night in Edenderry and a lot is hanging on this weekend for Billy and Breda, married for seven years but not functioning as a family unit for some time, writes Pat Keaveney of the Naas Moat Club Theatre.

Billy is drinking in the Golf Club and plotting his seduction of young Imelda Egan. Back home, his neglected wife Breda plans her relaunch into the town’s monotonous social scene. Her big hope, now that she has lost the weight, is that Billy and she will be a ‘proper married couple’ again.

Sunday night is the big night. In a series of monologues they recount the events of the weekend, his fueled by drink and fantasy, hers punctuated with her struggle to overcome battered self-esteem. As they bring us to the inevitable Sunday night dénouement, they introduce to the audience a succession of colourful characters, described in richly comic language in the Midlands vernacular.

Eden premiered at the Abbey in 2001. That year it won the award for Best New Play at both the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the Stewart Parker Awards then transferred to London’s West End. It has been translated and performed around the world and was adapted into an award-winning film in 2008.

Eden by Eugene O’Brien. Directed by Paul O’Brien and Eilish Rafferty. 21-25 February 2012, 8pm nightly. €15, concessions €12.


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