Last night I was very lucky to be able to attend the opening night of Terminus, written and directed by Mark O’Rowe, in the Peacock Theatre. Thank you to David McCadden of The Abbey Theatre for arranging the tickets 
Darren and Lottie were also able to attend so I look forward to their reviews, but for now here’s mine
Terminus is a vivid, imaginative, fast-paced, heart-breaking, inspiring, award-winning piece of theatre. I know that’s a lot of adjectives but if you can’t keep up with those few you’d never be able to keep up with the, at times, break-neck speed of monologues in Terminus.
We begin with a darkened stage inside the frame of a broken mirror. There are large pieces of the broken mirror behind the stage. Blinding lights assail the audience’s eyes before three figures arrive and take their places on a stage that is once again in semi-darkness. In turn and overlapping slightly, the three tell their tales. They are three tales of love, of loss, of sex and of violence. I cannot do justice to the imagery that they evoke, the feelings…there were audible gasps of horror and of empathy from the audience at various points. Mark O’Rowe’s writing of Terminus is quickfire and marvellous. Constantly listening intently so as not to miss anything, I felt exhausted by the time we got to the end of the stories. Someone else said they felt like they’d ‘just run a marathon’. I am in awe of the actors Kate Brennan, Andrea Irvine and Karl Shiels who performed with such vivacity for 90 minutes without stop.
The Belfast Telegraph cited the play as being ‘a grotesque and gripping piece of utterly compelling, extraordinary theatre’ and I can’t put it to you any better than that.
Definitely a must-see - as the sell-out audiences in Cork, Melbourne, Belfast and Longford will tell you.
Terminus will run at the Peacock Theatre until 5 December 2009 at 8pm with a Saturday matinée at 2.30pm. Tickets are €25.00, concessions €20.00. Matinée tickets are €20.00, concessions are €18.00.
You can buy tickets here or call into the ticket office on Middle Abbey Street.
Sounds great - I look forward to attending!
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I went to see it on Friday and was bowled over. You have to listen hard, maybe because there’s no action.
Darragh - you’ll enjoy it thoroughly I think.
Emerging Writer - it was fantastic wasn’t it? I’d definitely go again, and probably hear things I missed first time round too.
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