Greener

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin Previews until Apr 30 Opens May 1-26 8pm (Sat mat 3pm) €25-€49.50 0818-719388

What do audiences want? Many theatre makers have an inkling as to what they might need, but the sure-footed Landmark is adept at both stimulating and following an audience’s desires. It’s one of the reasons that the company, which operates on both a subsidised and commercial basis, is responsible (along with co-producers Galway Arts Festival) for bringing Cillian Murphy to the National Theatre of Great Britain with Misterman, while also readying Fiona Looney’s fourth play for the Gaiety, a venue whose dimensions can swallow up even the most savvy commercial operator.

Following the 2005 suburban comedy Dandelions, which not only persuaded us that Pauline McLynn and Deirdre O’Kane could be happy neighbours but that Keith Duffy could have a stage career, and 2009’s October, a warm, meandering reflection on female hopes that threatened, “There’ll be other Octobers!”, here is the proof.

The final instalment of Looney’s trilogy finds McLynn’s Noiren and husband Frank (Lorcan Cranitch) envisioning a different life following a modest lottery win, while their good fortune exposes the cracks in O’Kane and Declan Conlon’s marriage.

Landmark has an enviable record for both artistic and commercial success and while Looney certainly has a way with a one-liner, it’s the box office that will be the test in our current environment. If the audience for reassuring domestic comedy is still out there, Landmark is ready to give them what they want.

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My Cousin Rachel

Gate Theatre, Dublin