'The Asylum Worksop' play returns for 11 performances from June 14 to June 24 at The Black Box Theatre, East Quad, TU Dublin and Grangegorman. The grounds of the Grangegorman hospital is now the location of Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin).
The play which is a revival of the documentary drama by Colin Murphy explores the stories of those who were treated for mental illness in the Grangegorman hospital once known as the: “Lunatic Asylum”. The play is being produced in conjunction with final-year students of drama performance at TU Dublin Conservatoire.
Peter McDermott, TU Dublin drama lecturer and Director of The Asylum Workshop, said: "We were overwhelmed by both the demand for tickets and by the responses from those lucky enough to see the production. Many spoke about their memories of the hospital, of relatives who had been admitted there, sometimes never to come out again.
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"In the wake of other institutional neglect, such as that occurred in industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes, some spoke of how the play represented a national crisis that we are still coming to terms with.
"The immediacy of today's young actors directly confronting a very difficult chapter in Ireland's past was also very impactful for many -- Ireland's future grappling with Ireland's past on the very ground where it happened, in order to try to move into the future more wisely.”
The play is giving most of the students their first opportunity working as professional actors, which is "an unprecedented act of support and faith on the part of TU Dublin in both the quality of the production".
The play is able to bring together this sensitive subject matter with unique access to hospital archives including verbatim letters, testaments from patients and families, reports from doctors and nurses and expert analysis from historians and psychiatrists.
Playwright Colin Murphy said: "For a long, long time, Grangegorman was closed - closed off from the world, behind high walls, forbidding and forgotten. We aim to shine light into dark corners and blow the dust off forgotten archives, and find humanity, resilience and even some joy amongst the untold stories of those who lived behind those walls.”
Tickets are €20 and can be bought on eventbrite.
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