While Sloane Square’s beloved Royal Court theatre is closed for the time being, you can watch David Ireland’s award-winning “Cyprus Avenue” until May 31, 2020.
Starring Stephen Rea and directed by Vicky Featherstone, the streamed performance of the play mixes footage of performance from the Royal Court theatre stage production with location shooting in Belfast.
This hard-hitting black comedy tells the story of a man struggling with the past and terrified of the future. Eric Miller (played by Rea) is a Belfast Loyalist who is experiencing a psychotic episode. He mistakes his five-week-old granddaughter for Gerry Adams, the fabled Irish Republican independence leader and former president of Sinn Fein. Generations of sectarian trauma convince him that his cultural heritage is under siege and he must act.
“Cyprus Avenue” was awarded Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the James Tait Black Prize for Drama in 2017. For his portrayal of Eric, Stephen Rea won Best Actor at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017.
