Dublin Oldschool

Emmet Kirwan (Ireland)

Emmet Kirwan’s smash-hit play updates old-fashioned Irish eloquence for the days of DJ sets and drug binges, tracksuits and trash-talk. It tells the story of two estranged brothers from Dublin: Jason is a would-be DJ, Daniel a washed-up junkie. After years apart, they meet during a long, wild weekend. Their tentative bonding is set against the backdrop of memories: of the music they raved to, the drugs they thrilled to and the city of their birth and, perhaps, rebirth.

Kirwan and co-star Ian Lloyd Anderson play multiple roles throughout, and mix spoken word slang-talk with naturalistic dialogue and poetic reflections. It’s speech as music—a feast for the ears. What Dublin Oldschool offers in the end is a gesture towards love and hope—a wish that they might triumph over addiction and the passage of time. Along the way, the work is a very Irish immersion in the joys of language.

[H]as all the makings of a modern classic. Never to be missed.

—The Arts Review

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