The Dead School
Mon 22 Feb 2010 – Sat 13 Mar 2010
by Pat McCabe
“The Dead School is a feast of madness — a carnival of quirks… astonishing theatre and poignant immediacy. McIntyre’s detailed vision is superbly evoked in Maree Kearns’s marvellously grotty set and Barry McKinney’s skilful lighting…brave and sumptuously imaginative.”
“The masters of flashy trousers and fast moves …anyone, anywhere should appreciate Sean Campion’s performance as Bell.”
“Wildly funny and piercingly poignant… a freewheeling phantasmagoria in which the intertwined fates of two schoolteachers of different generations are resurrected and subjected to a blackly exuberant autopsy… wonderful.”
“Class act is a riot. Padraic McIntyre’s expertly controlled production resembles a malfunctioning jack-in-the-box, full of grotesque laughter in the dark…stupendous.”
“Sean Campion is a magnetic centre of attention as Raphael. Carrie Crowley, Gemma Reeves and Peter Daly revolve around the two teachers like orbiting satellites and dazzle with their quick-changing panache …a stunning piece of staging”
Ireland of the 70s: crashing headlong into the warring forces of change and tradition.
Schoolmaster Raphael Bell is devoted to traditional teaching values, while on the other side, Schoolmaster Malachy Dudgeon loves rock music and makes rules only in order to break them. When these two men and all they represent come together, chaos is only round the corner.
The drama dances between the past and the present, and music and song are seamlessly interwoven in this powerful story of the love men leave behind in the pursuit of what they think is life.
The Dead School comes to the Tricycle following a sell-out run at the 2009 Dublin Theatre Festival and 3 Irish Times Theatre Award nominations including Best Play and Best Actor (Sean Campion).
Cast includes Sean Campion, Eamon Owens, Carrie Crowley, Gemma Reeves and Peter Daly
Creatives include Padraic McIntyre (Director), Maree Kearns (Designer), Barry McKinney (Lighting Designer) and Cormac Carrol (Sound Designer)
