'Playboy' posters

Playboys, Paycocks and Playbills is the title of an exhibition of Abbey Theatre posters from the l970s and l980s that opened this week at the National Print Museum, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.

Some 120 posters have been gathered together for the first time, displaying the astonishing versatility and creative skills of the two resident graphic artists at the theatre at the time - Kevin Scally in the 1970s and Brendan Foreman in the 1980s. The exhibition is as much about the variety of the stage productions at both the Abbey and Peacock during those decades as it is about the talents of the graphic artists, who lived the life of the theatre, who worked closely with directors and who have left a body of work that was always fresh and illuminating, drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources. In addition to the Abbey posters, the exhibition includes the smaller poster/programmes of the Peacock Theatre, an innovation introduced during the l970s. Admission is free and the exhibition runs until November 28th (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday 2pm-5pm).