Harrowing but admirable play takes a searing look at autism

First performed at last year’s Dublin Fringe Festival, Normal is a drama that asks its audiences plenty of questions

Karen Ardiff and Caoimhe O’Malley in Catríona Daly’s Normal

Normal

By Caitríona Daly

Bewley’s Café Theatre, Dublin

Rating:***

Runs until April 28

Caitríona Daly’s desperately sad play about autism begins in the aftermath of a party gone wrong. The stage is strewn with overturned tables, empty bottles and plates of half-eaten food. All this physical clutter, however, is nothing compared to the messy psychological struggle being fought by two women as they throw everything into black plastic sacks.

First performed at last ...