‘It’s unheard of’ – Abbey Theatre decision slammed as ‘insult to audiences’

The Abbey Theatre’s decision to ‘go dark’ for more than nine weeks this summer has been slammed as ‘an insult to audiences and a waste of public money’.

Actors and other theatre professionals who spoke to the Irish Mail on Sunday say it beggars belief at the height of the tourist season, also noting this means the national theatre will employ only three actors on its main stage between July 20 and the end of this year.

It comes as a report into governance at the Abbey has still not been submitted to the Arts Council, raising questions about the theatre’s annual State funding.

One veteran actor claimed the institution that is supposed to support and nurture theatre and the people who work in it, is ‘doing the exact opposite’.

They told the MoS: ‘The Abbey, like RTÉ, has a duty to deliver for audiences and also be commercially successful; it’s not doing either as far as I’m concerned. Closing for nine weeks over the summer is unheard of.’

The actor pointed to the example of the Gate Theatre, putting on a production of Dancing at Lughnasa for its summer run, something they said will provide employment and be a sure-fire success.

‘It’s absolutely a no-brainer; every concierge in the big Dublin hotels will be recommending their guests go and see it… the irony is that Lughnasa is an Abbey play.’

‘You see Paul Mescal, Saoirse Ronan and Jess Buckley doing theatre in London and New York, scoring huge hits. Why aren’t they on the Abbey stage?’

Earlier this month, the Abbey Theatre announced the unprecedented long summer closure saying stages ‘require upgrading work and critical maintenance in August’.

Elizabeth Kuti’s The Sugar Wife, which opens next week and runs until July 20, will be the last production before September 21, when Grania by Lady Gregory is scheduled to open.

The current production features just three actors and replaces a Marina Carr play, The Boy, originally planned for a commemorative season for Lady Gregory, one of the theatre’s founders. Sources claim the decision not to run Ms Carr’s play was financial, as it features 12 actors.

The Abbey failed to respond to specific queries from the MoS about the controversial closure but said it has scheduled ‘a compulsory maintenance period in August’.

A spokesman said it was ‘industry standard’ for this work to take place in venues annually.

‘Given the age and state of the Abbey building, we schedule this maintenance every six months. It takes two to three weeks each time to complete.’

‘On completion of these essential works, it is our intention to programme a number of one-off events on the Abbey Stage.’

However, sources said other theatres and venues do all their maintenance work in January, not at one of the busiest times of the year. Meanwhile, a report into governance and culture at the theatre has still not been presented to the Arts Council or made public.

The theatre receives approximately €8m in public funding from the Arts Council every year.

But last year partial funding – believed to be about €1m – was withheld pending submission of the report. It is understood the Arts Council has told the theatre that receipt of the report is a condition of funding this year. Like a similar report into governance issues at RTÉ, it is being compiled by Crowe Consulting.

Also similar to the national broadcaster, the national theatre has made significant termination payouts.

In 2019, outgoing directors Neil Murray and Graham McLaren got €695,000 between them.

The closure means actors, front-of-house staff and other workers will all go unpaid while management continue to be paid. The Abbey refused to say how many would be affected by the closure.

A spokesman said: ‘Across its operations, the Abbey Theatre scales up and down its casual staff needs depending on requirements, similar to any theatre.’

In 2016, the management of the Abbey was rocked by a protest movement of female theatre workers who, under the banner ‘Waking the Feminists’, called for gender equality at the theatre.

Following the protest, more women were appointed to management positions and more work was given to female writers. However, the Irish Arts Review for 2023 claimed the process had gone too far.

Referring to its Gregory season, which featured almost all women writers this year, the Review said: ‘The Abbey’s lopsided programme raises some serious questions. Seven plays by six women writers… leaves no room for other voices, alive or dead. Including Lady Gregory herself. Or men. Long overdue, some will say. Yet the idea underlying the national theatre is that it’s the national everybody’s theatre. Waking the Feminists set out to establish gender balance in theatre. Which now looks more like power swapping than power sharing.’

Another source said the decision to close over the summer was indicative of a lack of vision by the Abbey’s management.

‘It’s the same lack of vision that keeps the likes of Saoirse Ronan or Paul Mescal off the stage of our national theatre.

‘Both of those people care passionately about acting in Ireland and if the conditions were right and they were approached properly, they could be enticed. But nobody is doing the courting.’

The Abbey Theatre this weekend said there ‘is no further update on the Crowe report at this time’. The Arts Council also declined to comment on the governance report.