Bilingual production for An Taibhdhearc

ThereisBear! Theatre will stage its original production, The Shadow of Carmilla/Scáth an tSúmaire, in An Taibhdhearc this Friday and Saturday, November 3 and 4.

The Shadow of Carmilla first premiered in its completed form at the Galway Theatre Festival last April, with director, Conor Kennedy Burke, saying the company was delighted with the audience response.

“After the response we received during the festival, we were eager to revive the production and are delighted to have the opportunity to do so as part of the Halloween season,” he says.

Inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic novella, Carmilla, ThereisBear! has reimagined the horror classic as an Irish narrative, setting it in the heart of post-famine Connemara. In the isolation of a dismal manor, the daughter of a landlord is bed-bound with a mysterious illness.

Confined to the house by an unnatural storm, suspicion and unease fester among the few remaining inhabitants, culminating in the clash of languages, beliefs and cultures.

“Irish was integral to the narrative and the development of the piece, and it was crafted to be accessible to both English and Irish speakers,” says cast member Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, of what is the Galway-based company’s first bilingual production.

The cast includes Kori Kilduff, Eilish McCarthy, Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, Orla Ní Thiobraide, Elaine Nic An Bhaird and Peter Shine.

■ The Shadow of Carmilla [Scáth an tSúmaire] will run in An Taibhdhearc on Friday and Saturday, November 3 and 4. Tickets (€12/€15) are available from An Taibhdhearc’s box office on (091) 562024, or at https://antaibhdhearc.ticketsolve.com/.