On the Peacock Stage at the Abbey Theatre last night, I was treated to a truly hilarious, but honestly moving play, Little Gem. With no shame, I’ll admit to having shed a couple of tears only to be hurled in the other direction to have the laughter pour out of me. This is not high-brow entertainment. Though tight, smart and brilliantly staged, it’s one of the most accessible Irish plays I’ve seen in some time. It really is a play for everyman, or indeed everywoman, as it centres on the lives of three generations of Dublin women - Amber, her mother Lorraine and the show-stealing grandmother Kay. In Elaine Murphy’s first full-length play Kay (a heartbreaking Anita Reeves) is past 60, but not dead, as her constantly itching nether regions and desperation for a good old fashioned orgasm reminds her. Her daughter Lorraine (Hilda Fay) is sent to “talk to … There’s more →