Wáltsáil Abhaile, a new play by award-winning writer, Antoine Ó Flatharta, will kickstart Fíbín sa Taibhdhearc’s theatre season for 2023. This world premiere, directed by Stephen D’Arcy and designed by Lulu Tam, will run from March 23 until April 1 at An Taibhdhearc in Galway City, with previews on March 21 and 22.

On a dark night, an ageing Micheál Mac Liammóir stops for a ‘small pleasure’. He is denied this by a young Garda who brings him home safely . . . but there’s a storm coming in this surreal play about renowned actor, director and theatre impresario, Mac Liammóir.

Presented as a “theatrical multimedia fantasia”, it features ‘Mac’ in the autumn of his years, as he goes on a dreamlike journey that weaves in and out of time and place, reality and fantasy.

Written by one of Ireland’s leading writers in the Irish language, Wáltsáil Abhaile is an ode to theatre, and a love song to one of the legends of irish drama. This production in this venue is particularly apt, as Mac Liammóir was the first artistic director of An Taibhdhearc.

“Although this play is about Micheál Mac Liammóir, it’s also about me,” says Antoine Ó Flatharta, who also devised TG4’s long-running series, Ros na Rún. “I started out writing a play about Mac Liammóir but I ended up slipping into it in ways I didn’t expect. This happens with any art that I think has merit. But it happened more with this play than any other play I’ve ever written.”

Content and chance had a role to play in this, he feels

“Age too. It has been a long six years since I wrote any stage play. I was young then and I’m not anymore. I’m not sure sense comes with age, but one thing that comes with age is freedom.”

The cast is Caitríona Ní Mhurchú, Ben Morris, Caoimhghín Ó hEoghusa and Dáithí O’Donnell, with sound design by Jay Burke.  Surtitles will be used.

Tickets for the preview nights on Monday and Tuesday March 21 and 22 are €16, and the show starts at 8pm

Opening night is on March 23 and Wáltsáil Abhaile will run until Saturday, April 1, at 8pm nightly. Tickets will be €18. On Friday, March 31, all ticket sales will go to a support fund for  Pete Nelson, a stalwart of the Galway theatre and arts scene for decades.

For more information and to book, www.antaibhdhearc.com