The Abbey Theatre has unveiled its first season announcement for 2026, placing Sean O'Casey’s landmark play The Plough and the Stars at the centre of its programme to mark 100 years since its original staging.
The season, curated by Artistic Director Caitríona McLaughlin, combines major works from the Irish canon with new writing from leading contemporary playwrights, via a slate of work that 'explores resistance at the level of individual, family and society'.
On the Abbey Stage, O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars will run from Tuesday, 3th March to Thursday, 30th April. Directed by Tom Creed, the production commemorates the play’s debut at the Abbey in February 1926. Set against the backdrop of the Easter Rising, O'Casey's iconic drama portrays clashing political ideals within a Dublin tenement as violence erupts across the capital.
Following this, Lennox Robinson’s The Whiteheaded Boy will be staged from Wednesday, 3th June to Saturday, 18th July. Directed by Annie Ryan, the production marks the 110th anniversary of Robinson’s celebrated coming-of-age tale, exploring familial expectations and youthful ambition in a 'brash update with a wink at the past', reimagined for the late 20th century.
The season also includes three world premieres. Mirandolina, written by Marina Carr and adapted from Carlo Goldoni's La Locandiera, will run from Friday, 28th August to Saturday, 5th September. Directed by McLaughlin, the co-production with Teatro Stabile Veneto and Croatian National Theatre HNK Rijeka will tour internationally before arriving in Dublin. Following a ferociously independent Italian woman in Dublin who risks everything as she faces down the indignity and dominance of patriarchal chauvinism, the production forms part of Ireland’s cultural programme for the EU Presidency and the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
On the Peacock Stage, Una McKevitt’s Fair Deal opens the 2026 season at the Peacock from Wednesday, 11th February to Saturday, 28th March. Directed by Conall Morrison, McKevitt's darkly comic drama sees sex, murder, family entitlement and how the elderly are cared for bear down on a sleepy Dublin suburb.
It will be followed by the world premiere of Frank McGuinness’s Do You Come From Gomorrah?, running from Friday, 10th April to Saturday, 9th May. Directed by Sarah Baxter in her Abbey debut, the new play from the veteran author of The Factory Girls and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme offers an unflinching look at the life of a young gay man, and the love and violence that has shaped him, as he negotiates sexual and sectarian politics, and unrequited longing.
Commenting on the new programme, Caitríona McLaughlin says: "At a time when our news is filled with people searching for shelter and dignity, theatre has a responsibility to reflect the world we inhabit — and to imagine something better. From homelessness and housing precarity, to gender-based violence, and economic inequality and political division, our stage must not shield itself from these realities."
Find out more about the new season at the Abbey Theatre here
