Fifteen Years in the Making: Barbara Bergin’s ‘Dublin Gothic’ Set to premiere at the Abbey Theatre
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A sweeping, century-spanning drama, Dublin gothic, is poised to premiere at the Abbey Theatre in November 2025, culminating a fifteen-year journey from concept to stage for playwright Barbara Bergin. the production, featuring a cast of 20 actors, promises a unique exploration of Dublin’s history through the lens of those frequently enough overlooked.
Bergin describes the play as a “myth-busting,loser’s history,” an “everyday epic” focused on “moments not seized” and “secrets kept.” It’s a story born from a desire to examine the shadows of a city both recognizable and strangely unfamiliar.
The path to realizing Dublin Gothic was far from straightforward. Initially envisioned as a television or radio series, the project evolved over years, accumulating a wealth of characters and narrative threads. “I had a TV outline, a draft of a radio script for one episode and 158 characters running around my brain,” Bergin recounts, “it seemed like the biggest loser in the whole enterprise was me.” Despite these challenges, the story’s persistence ultimately led her back to the stage.
The Integral Role of Time and Collaboration
The extensive advancement process itself became interwoven with the play’s themes. According to Bergin, “The time this play took to arrive on stage, all the twists and turns, the losses that inform it, are integral to the piece.”
Key to the play’s transformation was the support of several individuals at the Abbey Theatre. Jesse Weaver, formerly a dramaturg at the Abbey, championed the project from its early stages, while Louise Stephens provided crucial guidance in shaping the sprawling narrative. A turning point came when CaitrÃona McLaughlin, the Abbey’s current artistic Director, took a risk on the production, recognizing its potential. Bergin expressed immense gratitude, stating, “There is nowhere else this play could have been made.”
A Visionary Director and a Story Finally Realized
The arrival of director Caroline Byrne proved pivotal. Described by Bergin as the play’s “Maestra,” Byrne brought a visionary approach to the production, offering “stimulating, generous and rigorous” insights. Together with her creative team, Byrne tackled the play’s unique challenges with “breathtaking inventiveness and skill.”
Bergin emphasizes that the play itself seemed to be waiting for the right moment and the right collaborators. “All that time, all that waiting around, the play had been waiting on me,” she explains.She completed the first draft in early 2020,just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail the project entirely.
Celebrating Resilience in the Face of Loss
At its core, Dublin Gothic is a celebration of the human spirit’s capacity for resilience. The play explores how characters navigate hardship and strive to create meaning in the face of loss. As bergin eloquently puts it,it’s about “struggling through time against the villain of circumstance” and finding the strength “to get up,to meet the moment,than the day and then the world once more.”
The playwright affectionately refers to the characters as “losers” who ultimately “steered the ship,” inviting audiences to find kinship in their struggles.
The world premiere of Dublin Gothic will be held at the Abbey Theatre from November 22nd, 2025, to January 31st, 2026. Further details can be found here.
