When I planned my trip to Dublin, I chose the dates around the Dublin Theatre Festival. Once my flight was confirmed I waited for tickets to go on sale so that I was poised to purchase the second they went on sale to be sure I could get the performances I most wanted. As Festival tickets were about to go on sale I realized that only Friends of the Theatre Festival could purchase for the first several weeks. Panic.
Occasionally I tormented myself by going online to check how quickly seats were disappearing, especially for my most desired play “Our Few and Evil Days” with Ciaran Hinds and Sinead Cusack. I even toyed with becoming a Friend of the Dublin Theatre Festival – worthwhile to be sure, but probably not the most practical for a Californian. Instead I settled my strategy on staying up till 2am my time, and being ready to strike the second tickets went on sale to the general public.
In advance, I had set-up my Dublin Theater Festival account, scouted seat options, and determined my purchase order: Spinning, The Mariner, and Our Few and Evil Days. The Festival website is quite organized and easy to use and kept a record of all my purchases in my account. Success. One small glitch was that I had to inform my bank the purchase in another country was legit. Picking up the tickets at Will Call was simple and went like clockwork. It turns out I had chosen quintessential Irish plays that were all dark, tragic, and unraveled a mystery in it storytelling.
“Spinning” – Smock Alley Theatre
I positioned “Spinning” on my first night in Dublin as it was close to my hotel and would require less logistical effort if I started to descend into a jetlag spiral. 
“Spinning” was playing at the Smock Alley Theatre – a fabulous intimate space that was rebuilt on the foundation of the original 18th century Smock Alley Theatre – its interior design pays homage to a church that had replaced the original theater. Smock Alley has a small and appealing church-like lobby that serves drinks before the theater opens. The theater is general seating, and I arrived early sit center aisle, four rows back which is the last row in a stadium style seating.
“Spinning” refers to spinning out of control – a tragic mystery unfolds through flashbacks. The play was an ensemble of only four actors taking place in one act. One actor was on stage the entire time pivoting amongst his fellow actors between present and past, never leaving the stage. Intense. Both the writing and acting were excellent across the board.
“The Mariner” – The Gate Theatre
Since I had never been to the Gate Theatre north of the Liffey River, I decided to head up to the far end of O’Connell Street early, collect my ticket for “The Mariner ,” and grab an early dinner nearby. The Gate was easy to find and Theatre staff recommended nearby Le Bon Crubeen for dinner. Upon entering, the restaurant reminded me of a low-lit casino. Unlike most dining I’ve patroned in Dublin the service wasn’t overly friendly – adequate but perfunctory. The starter of crab salad was odd, but the fish and chips 
was actually quite tasty – the chips in particular may have been the I’ve had in Ireland. If I had simply sat at the bar and had those exquisite thick cut chips, and a draft beer I would have walked out a happy customer. Perhaps the meal foreshadowed my theater experience.
The Mariner was fine – good acting and perfectly watchable from my 5th row seat, but ultimately predictable and flat. In comparison to the dynamic “Spinning” the night before, this play was decidedly ho-hum. The plot was an interesting concept over the confused identify of a sailor returning home from World War I – with an extra layer of controversy over Irishmen who fought for the British, and were ostracized when they returned home.
The Gate Theatre is a perfectly fine theater venue, but theater has not been renovated and both the rows and seats are very narrow and not the most comfortable theater in which to spend two hours. The Gate was only established in 1928 and its neo classical building was once part of the Rotunda Hospital which was built in 1764 – as was its impressive neighbor, the Ambassador which is now used for exhibition space.
“Our Few and Evil Days” – The Abbey Theatre
Ah. The piece de resistance. Sometimes when you are so excited for an event you worry that your expectations may be dashed. Nope – not here.” Our Few and Evil Days ” was a tour de force. 
I won’t give the story away except to say it’s about a family secret that unravels over many unexpected twists and turns. The production values were excellent except for a little glitch in the second act when a light mechanism got stuck and kept clicking — which made the actors even more impressive because they never lost focus even though that loud clicking must have been very distracting. Phenomenal acting by all of the cast, but in particular by Ciaran Hinds.
The performances were subtle, not theatrical – these characters seemed real. The Abbey, Ireland’s National Theatre, is medium sized, but even from Row Q, center seat the theater felt intimate, enhanced by great sight lines of the stadium style seating, with really comfortable seats.
While going to the Dublin Theatre Festival every night did constrain other activities such as compressed meal times and the ability to attend live music off-Temple Bar music venues, it was worth it. All of my plays began at 7:30pm. It seems that most Dublin restaurants have pre-theater 2 or 3 course prix fixe menus. I really enjoyed the Dublin Theatre Festival and thought that the quality of productions was excellent. The next time I go, I will want to optimize as many plays as possible.
