Portia Coughlan premiere

Portia Coughlan was Marina Carr’s fifth play at the Abbey Theatre. At once sinister and harrowingly moving, Portia Coughlan witnesses the struggle to reconcile all engulfing loss with life’s petty inconsequence.

“For me, watching Portia Coughlan was like crossing a rough sound, clinging to the prow of a small boat – I was exhilarated, laughing in fright, terrified, but energised. Reading it, I’m in awe of Carr’s daring, her ability to write what a person might actually say, but to make it amazing, her imaginative power. Reading it aloud with students, the language and the people come alive with physical energy. Portia Coughlan is a dynamo that makes light out of darkness.”

Cathy Leeney, Lecturer, Drama Studies Centre, UCD