BELFAST playwright Jimmy McAleavey’s new play Monsters, Dinosaurs, Ghosts is currently running at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Directed by Caitriona McLaughlin, it features actors Lalor Roddy, David Pearse, Ryan McParland and Steve Blount and is billed as “a tense and darkly funny play which takes a fearless look at why men go to war”.
It tells the story of Nig and Wee Joe, who used to be soldiers. They have done monstrous things in their time but now nobody is listening and nobody cares either way. Their lives are full of cognitive behavioural therapy, valium and guilt. One last operation offers the chance to bring meaning to their actions and brings them face to face with 'L’, who represents the new and unpredictable reality of war in Northern Ireland.
Abbey Theatre director Fiach Mac Conghail said the play “zooms in on the personal fallout in the aftermath of the Peace Process. There is an exciting and flourishing set of playwrights active in Northern Ireland today; each with something unique and urgent to say about the here and now of life in Belfast”.
:: Monsters, Dinosaurs, Ghosts runs at the Abbey Theatre (Peacock Stage) in Dublin until Saturday (AbbeyTheatre.ie).
