26 The Aran Islands Reviews, Discount The Aran Islands Tickets

Members say: Great acting, Slow, Absorbing, Intense, Intelligent

Irish Repertory Theatre presents a new adaptation of John Millington Synge’s classic work chronicling his travels to the desolate Aran Islands. More…

In 1898, upon the advice of W.B. Yeats, Synge went to live among the islanders to "express a life that has never found expression.’’ In this grey, sea-battered landscape, full of mist and wild rain, hearth is home and storytellers spin tales by the fire. Here Synge found inspiration for many later works including 'The Playboy of the Western World' and 'Riders to the Sea.' Irish actor Brendan Conroy tackles the story of Synge's time in this bleakly primitive, mystical land.

1h 40m | Already closed | Irish Repertory Theatre / W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre (Chelsea)

Cast & Creatives | Nearby Food & Drinks | Official Site

Member Reviews (14)

SEE ALL REVIEWS

Robbie
New York City
Male

423 reviews

Get Alerts Alerts On Alerts Off

Sleep inducing, Tacky set design, Static, Better read than dramatized

July 30th, 2017

See it if you're in need of sleep. This one will certainly lull you to sleep. The dark lighting is an asset to that end. There's no arc in this piece.

Don't see it if you can read the book instead. Or if you have any other plays to see.

Helpful?

View in admin

Critic Reviews (12)

Zachary Stewart |

June 19th, 2017

"A faithful, if soporific adaptation...O'Byrne's adaptation and production (he also directs) eschews that dramatic potential for something a lot closer to a staged reading...Unfortunately, there is so little variation between the different characters that we feel like we're watching one long stor...
read more

Get Alerts Alerts On Alerts Off

David Barbour |

June 23rd, 2017

"A travelogue with a fancy literary pedigree...Elegantly written, it's a tall order for adaptation to the stage...For all their effort, however, the result is pretty static...‘The Aran Islands’ is filled with tales but they don't compensate for the lack of an overall dramatic thrust. It might hel...
read more

Get Alerts Alerts On Alerts Off

David Hurst |

June 19th, 2017

"Conroy, a chameleon-like actor, is a mostly riveting presence...A criticism of O'Byrne's adaptation of 'The Aran Islands,' a unique hybrid of memoir and documentary, to a stage monologue would be that it gives the same weight to Synge and the storytellers as it does to their folktales...It's eas...
read more

Get Alerts Alerts On Alerts Off

Beatrice Williams-Rude |

June 20th, 2017

“The demands placed on its star Brendan Conroy are of Wagnerian scale…While Brendan Conroy does an admirable job playing the many characters and Joe O’Byrne’s crisp direction keeps the proceedings moving, after about an hour a sense of sameness sets in. I would like to see Synge’s splendid study,...
read more

Get Alerts Alerts On Alerts Off

Nearby food & drinks (4)

Zagara (Italian $$ - $$$)

2 min walk. Italian restaurant and wine bar with great, friendly service. Try one of their fresh pastas with something from their nice list of Italian wines.

TripAdvisor Ranking: 4.5 out of 5 stars with 51 reviews