Garter Lane on May 10th & 11th
Decadent Theatre Company and Galway Arts Centre bring From a Low and Quiet Sea to Garter Lane on May 10th & 11th . Adapted for the stage from Donal Ryan’s Booker Prize nominated novel, the drama comes to Waterford as part of a major 18-venue tour crisscrossing Ireland in May and June.
The world premiere production in the 2022 Galway International Arts Festival garnered critical praise with The Irish Independent saying, “Not a moment, a nuance, a gesture is less than perfect throughout, as each of the characters in turn drag the heart from your body… This play will haunt you.”
From a Low and Quiet Sea is a carefully crafted portrait of the intersecting lives of four characters, each searching for a version of home. From war–torn Syria to small–town Ireland, they are scarred by all they have loved and lost and are drawn towards a powerful reckoning that will bring them together in the most unexpected of ways.
For Farouk, family is all. He has protected his wife and daughter from the war. If they stay, they will lose their freedom. If they flee, they will lose all they have known of home, for a faraway land across the merciless sea.
Lampy is distracted. He’s with Eleanor, but she’s not Chloe. His granddad’s sniping jokes are getting on his wick. And on top of all that, he has a bus to drive; those old folks from the home can’t wait all day.
For John, the game was always the lifeblood coursing through his veins. Manipulating people for enrichment, for enjoyment, for spite. But it was never enough. As the lifeblood is slowing down, will God listen?
Florence’s son is acting differently which forces her to look for answers, but she is afraid of the truth that lies within herself.
The adaptation of Ryan’s acclaimed novel is a collaboration between the author, the original cast, and Decadent Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Andrew Flynn, who also directs. Aosaf Afzal [Farouk] and Darragh O’Toole [Lampy] will reprise their roles from last year’s production. Denis Conway, recently seen in Hangmen, has joined the cast as John and Eva Bartley will play Florence.
Ryan is the author of six best-selling novels, most recently The Queen of Dirt Island [2022], and a short story collection. His debut novel, The Spinning Heart [2013], was also nominated for the Booker Prize and was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016 in a nationwide poll run by Dublin Book Festival. His many awards include the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award, and three Irish Book Awards.
His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. He lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.
Flynn’s other work includes Eden; A Love Like That; The Thing About December; Pumpgirl; Port Authority; The Mai; A Skull in Connemara; Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me; Wit; and for Gaiety Productions, Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Lonesome West.
Andrew Flynn and Donal Ryan were recipients of a 2021 Elevate bursary grant to adapt and workshop the script of From a Low and Quiet Sea.
Decadent Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the support of the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Galway County Council.
Garter Lane Arts Centre 22 O’Connell Street Waterford. Tel: 051-855038