Writer Mark O'Rowe has made a splash on film (Intermission), TV (adapting Normal People) and theatre (Howie The Rookie) - now he returns to the Dublin stage with his acclaimed play Reunion, following a sell-out run at last year's Dublin Theatre Festival. Mark re-introduces Reunion below...
My initial inspiration in writing Reunion was Chekhov's major plays, particularly their structure. I liked the idea of four extended scenes, each of them long enough to create a sense of real life happening in real time. I also wanted to fill the stage with characters who felt complex and unpredictable and real, recreating the recognisable choreography of a large family gathering while also conveying its chaos and spontaneity: people talking over each other, digressions, people interrupting to call for one thing or another, subjects dropped mid-discussion to be picked up again later, or sometimes not at all.
Beneath this surface then, I wanted to explore the angry, frightened, domineering, ugly elements we all contain (and which are often heightened when with family), while also presenting their counterbalance: affection, generosity, pride, the heroic effort we make to combat the worst, most self-destructive elements of our nature in order to maintain our bonds with those we love, however problematic and painful these bonds may be.
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Listen: Mark O'Rowe talks Reunion with Oliver Callan
This probably sounds like heavy stuff, and a heavy play, I suppose, is what I thought I was writing initially. As I progressed, though, it began to evolve in all manner of unforeseen directions, the whole thing really taking off in terms of its energy and pace, as well as the density of its plotting, with confrontations and surprises and revelations coming thick and fast. It also became much funnier than I'd anticipated, though without losing, I hope, any of the sophistication of its ideas or themes, or the complexity of its characters.
It's been lovely to see how consistently and vocally audiences have reacted throughout.
Speaking of characters, the cast of this show is incredible. Although with so many actors on stage at any given time, each has to understand that, unless played in a profound spirit of selflessness and collaboration [like an orchestra, say, where no single musician can ever be more important than any other, the overall music, the symphonic quality, a crucial element if the play is to function, will lose its shape or its balance.
Thankfully, that hasn't happened. And it's the actors' generosity toward the work and toward each other (on top of their aforementioned brilliance!) that really gives the show a sense of unity and makes it feel so fluid and immediate and alive. In fact, it's been lovely to see how consistently and vocally audiences have reacted throughout. Whether it’s the laughter of recognition, or gasps at surprises or revelations, or groans when things don’t go too well for characters they might be starting to love, their connection to the action is always so intense and vital and in the moment.
Actually, just about everybody who’s seen the play so far has said it reminds them (some to a scary extent) of their own family, and everyone seems to obsess afterwards on working out exactly which of the characters they themselves most resemble. It seems to have had a very powerful, very universal effect in that way, and I can't wait for audiences to experience it at the Gaiety Theatre.
Reunion is at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin from 21st October – 2nd November 2025 - find out more here
Images: Marcin Lewindowski, Mark Senior
