Before it’s world premiere in June, axis presents an exclusive run of previews of the new play from acclaimed writer Dermot Bolger. Even before it’s opening, ‘The Parting Glass’ has been invited to take part in the Underground Zero Festival at the PS122 venue in New York this coming July! Shot through with caustic wit and sharp home truths, ‘The Parting Glass’ is an examination of Ireland over the past two decades, and Thierry Henry’s left hand!

In 1990 Dermot Bolger’s play ‘In High Germany’ astutely and angrily captured the mood of a pre-Celtic Tiger generation forced to emigrate due to economic necessity. It used the motif of soccer and the story of the Irish team’s success in Euro ‘88 to tell the life stories of three friends up to the point where they emigrate from an Ireland on the edge of financial collapse. Now in his new standalone play, which also works as a sequel, these characters are re-united in Stade de France on Nov 18th 2009 for the World Cup play-off.

If ‘In High Germany’ was an odyssey through the foreignness of Germany, ‘The Parting Glass’ is an odyssey through the foreignness of the Ireland that emerged in their absence, the boom and bust story of the nation that had room for them, and the story of old friends on the cusp of fifty stopping to make sense of their lives, loves and losses, to try and fathom their place as exiles and to take stock of their futures.

Hungry for a bargain? Enjoy our Dinner Theatre special on Thursday 20th May at 7pm. Get your ticket for the show and a 3 course meal served in axis’ café for only €20.