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Ireland's famed Abbey Theatre brings Mark O'Rowe's Terminus to Wex

"A spellbinding vision of devilry."—Boston Globe

“Gripping, grotesque and deliriously good.”—Sunday Tribune (Ireland)

wexner center for the arts
TERMINUS. Photo by Ros Kavanagh.
Cast from left to right: Catherine Walker, Declan Conlon, Olwen Fouere.
Click for high resolution version.
February 17, 2011 (Columbus, OH)—The Wexner Center presents playwright and director Mark O’Rowe’s award-winning play TERMINUS, performed by Abbey Theatre of Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, March 9 at 8 pm in Ohio State’s Thurber Theatre. As the National Theatre of Ireland, Abbey Theatre has a long and distinguished track record of supporting daring new productions such as TERMINUS, a play bursting with lyrical and lacerating poetic language.

The internationally touring play comes to life on a dark stage lit only by spotlights on three characters. The audiences watch as these three depart from the bustling streets to the skies above Dublin, then plummet deep into the bowels of the earth, as they are ripped from their daily lives and thrown into a fantastical world of singing serial killers, avenging angels, and lovesick demons.

This acclaimed play is a breathtaking rollercoaster of high-impact emotions, black humor, and brilliant acting not intended for the faint of heart. O’Rowe imaginatively interweaves the stories of his three characters—called A, B, and C—in successive monologues (written entirely in verse) that chart their violent collision course with wickedly funny and shocking twists. As Edinburgh Magazine’s reviewer put it, “Both incisively simple and deliciously complex, Mark O’Rowe’s exquisite TERMINUS is bold ambitious storytelling at its absolute best….Absolutely stunning.” And nytheatre.com writes, “It is the finest kind of storytelling and utterly gripping. When I checked my watch at the end to confirm the running time, I found I had honestly lost track of the time. I had no idea how much time had passed—something that has not happened for a very, very long time in my theatergoing experience.”

Charles Helm, the Wexner Center’s director of performing arts, says, “We take pride in bringing the best in adventurous international work by leading artists and ensembles to Columbus. This opportunity to introduce our audiences to the renowned Abbey Theatre of Ireland with this highly charged play is a prime example of this mission.”



About the company and playwright

The Abbey Theatre is Ireland’s national theater. Founded in 1904 by W.B. Yeats and Lady August Gregory, the Abbey first toured to the U.S. in 1911, making this year its 100th anniversary tour (and this performance in Columbus is company’s debut here). Visit abbeytheatre.ie for more information.

Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Mark O’Rowe is also known for his hit play Howie the Rookie (1999) and the cult film Intermission (2004), among other works.

Residency activities

While visiting the Wexner Center, members of Abbey Theatre will meet with students in Ohio State’s Department of Theatre to discuss the company’s storied history and its commitment to developing new work by important emerging playwrights, including Mark O’Rowe, the author of TERMINUS. Particular attention will be given to O’Rowe’s inventive use of language to create mood and atmosphere in his plays and to the way the Abbey team developed staging concepts for this work. Such discussion sessions with international artists further our partnership with the Department of Theatre, deepening OSU students’ understanding of innovative theater work and giving them insight into theater artists’ creative processes.

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