Annie Ryan

Where did the idea for The Fall of the Second

Republic emerge from? The play concerns itself with what ‘Ireland might have become, 50 years after its independence’ - what viewpoint does it approach this from?

7HQ \HDUV DJR ZH KDG WRXUHG RXU SOD\bFreefall to the Abbey. The piece essentially was channeling the grief one must allow when change comes. We opened in December 2010 the very day the IMF arrived, after which there was a blizzard. Not so many came, but those that did trudged through snow and wind to get there.

Around that time we pitched an idea to the then director of the Abbey of a black comedy set in the Irish political arena, with the same title as this play, full of grotesques in fat pads and wigs. When the new directors came to the Abbey in 2017, they were keen to work with us and wanted us to revive Dublin By Lamplight, which was a total joy. We thought it would be great fun to do another comedy on the Abbey stage, and we revisited this idea, combining stylistic and thematic ideas from both shows.

The tricky thing about writing a political satire now is that what we are living is so beyond parody that you couldn’t make up anything as bizarre as the dayto-day madness playing out on the stage of world politics.

This is a play that is trying to speak to the feelings of rage, frustration and powerlessness that has become the norm as you casually scroll through your twitter feed. It’s about the importance of free press, of speaking the truth in the face of corruption, as well as the power one person has to make a difference.

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Michael (West, Annie’s partner and writer of the play)) is a huge fan of the comedy of The Thick of It, which ZDV D ELJ LQŴXHQFH RQ WKH VW\OH RI WKH ZULWLQJ :H enjoyed watching some classics about politics and the press of the 1970s like Network, All the President’s Men as well as the charming Howard Hawks’ VFUHZEDOO QRLU ƓOP His Girl Friday.

The heart of the play became driven by the passion and fearlessness of our heroine, Emer Hackett, who is inspired by a number of rock star renegade journalists like Marie Colvin and especially Veronica Guerin. We also love the bleak comedy of Roy Andersson’s ƓOPV DV GRHV RXU EULOOLDQW GHVLJQHU .DWLH 'DYHQSRUW the starkness of which you can feel in the design of our set.

What considerations were at play concerning set design and AV for The Fall of the Second Republic?

While the initial impulse was to follow the style of Dublin by Lamplight into a new piece, the play Michael felt called to write demanded a different approach, much closer to heightened realism. A lot of our work is made in the empty space, so that we go be anywhere the characters needed to be and create any objects needed through mime. I’m not so used to working with objects, but this play demands tangible surfaces and props.

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She pulled together a large collection of research of some of their work as well as photographs of 1970s EUXWDOLVW DUFKLWHFWXUH RIƓFHV IXUQLWXUH REMHFWV FRORXU SDODWHV DV ZHOO DV ƓOPV OLNH All the President’s Men, with its stunning art direction, the interiors of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as well as the bleak but stunningly designed world of Roy Andersson.

Our lighting designer, Sinéad Wallace, who

I’ve worked with quite a bit, is a powerhouse of discernment and wisdom. Her enthusiasm for

.DWLHōV GHVLJQ OHQGV ZHLJKW DQG FRQƓGHQFH WR XV DOO Composer Denis Clohessy’s work is just starting to come in now. His huge range, experience and sense of fun is perfect for this one. And Saileóg O’Halloran is a brilliant costume designer with a very challenging task ahead of her to not just realise the images of the characters, but engineer them so they can change from one to another backstage with lightning speed.

The main inspiration for the AV was a video Michael came across of Leonid Brezhnev giving a New Year address to the young people of the USSR in 1979. It’s DEVROXWHO\ SULFHOHVV b b

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While the style of the work has morphed over the years, the basic premise remains rooted in physical embodiment of character within a narrative and a commitment towards continued investigation of HQGOHVV ZD\V WKH IRUP WKHDWUH FDQ KROG DQG UHŴHFW our stories back to us.

It’s an exciting time ahead for us. We have this giant adventure with the Abbey, working with some of our oldest and dearest pals as well as exciting new ones, and at the same time, the company’s funding has been cut completely moving forward. This is enraging of course, on some level, mainly because our proposed programme featured a hugely exciting range of women artists from major international prize winners to exciting emerging artists.

7ZHQW\ ƓYH \HDUV LV D ORQJ FRPPLWPHQW WR ,ULVK theatre, and I’m ready for change. I am likely to hold a few workshops into the summer and then see what happens next. I was very lucky to shadow the brilliant Lenny Abrahamson on the series Normal People last VXPPHU DQG ,ōYH EHHQ ZULWLQJ DQG SODQQLQJ WR ƓQDOO\ at 50, make some movies.

Ultimately, I’m interested in bringing the healing practices of yoga and meditation deeper into my artistic work. The work has to be urgent and engaging for audiences, but I also see its potential as powerful medicine to counteract the great suffering and dysfunction of our world. I do feel it’s a small gesture toward deepening compassion.

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