A rollicking look back at the Abbey’s beginnings

The sense of history might be slippery, but the overall impression is remarkably authentic to the contemporary revisionist eye

Paul Reid and Karen Egan in Dublin By Lamplight Pic: Ros Kavanagh

Dublin By Lamplight

Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Runs until April 1

Rating:****

Michael West’s satirical history of the origins of the Abbey Theatre premiered at the Project Arts Centre in 2004, under the astute direction of Annie Ryan and her theatre company Corn Exchange. Using the tools of whiteface commedia dell’arte, the marriage of an arresting style and West’s subversive approach to the subject matter could not have been more impressive.

Thirteen years later, ...