About the Show

Equal parts comic and poignant, Irish playwright Elaine Murphy’s debut play about three generations of North Dublin women won the top prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008.

From the show:
One year can bring extraordinary change; just ask Amber, Lorraine, and Kay, three generations of North Dublin women who find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected. Young Amber’s case of indigestion – or perhaps it’s a brutal hangover? – grows into something more, while her mother Lorraine discovers salsa dancing after an incident at work leads to therapist-suggested self-care. Grandmother Kay, on the wrong side of sixty, but not dead yet, struggles to take care of a personal itch while adjusting to life as a caretaker for her beloved Gem. As the year moves forward, the women confront their individual challenges with courage and humor, finding strength in one another and discovering the beauty and complexity of family.

Critic Reviews (11)

"Motherhood Masters Dysfunction in ‘Little Gem.’ In Elaine Murphy’s play, three women from one Dublin family tell a slice-of-life story through interwoven, interlocking monologues."
Read more

“Three Generations of Irish Women Live, Laugh, and Love in ‘Little Gem.’ Elaine Murphy's 2008 play returns to New York City in a new Irish Repertory Theatre production.”
Read more

"The gift of gab reigns supreme in this beguiling triptych of contemporary Irish womanhood dealing with the sheer bloody business of living…Under the sensitive, highly alert direction of Marc Atkinson Borrull, three fine actresses keep one under the spell of their unbridled candor."
Read more

★★★★ "'Three Generations in One Family Work It All Out.' Elaine Murphy's engaging play features Marsha Mason, Brenda Meany and Lauren O'Leary."
Read more

★★★★ “'Mothers and Daughters Tell their Stories at Irish Rep.' Marsha Mason anchors an intimate Irish drama that lives up to its title."
Read more

"The play makes a gift of presenting us with well-conceived characters (even those we never actually see), realistic-sounding dialogue and relatable situations. Nothing here, admittedly, is remotely groundbreaking, but the work is consistently engaging, occasionally hilarious and sometimes heart wrenching."
Read more

"Elaine Murphy guides her fictional characters through the play with a prescribed sentimentality but it rings true to life in a very engaging way. The progression of time for them is charged by their irrepressible honesty and through unapologetically personal feelings, many of which are consigned to overlap the needs and longing of the other."
Read more

"Marsha Mason is superb as a salty Irish housewife coping with a neurotic daughter, a rebellious granddaughter and an ill husband in this engaging monologue play. It's an engrossing slice of life with biographical data, pivotal incidents and humane observations that's immaculately presented."
Read more

Cast and creative team

Irish Repertory Theatre

Producer

Elaine Murphy

Playwright

Marc Atkinson Borrull

Director