Sunday, September 16, 2007

Kicking a Dead Horse

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Abbey Theatre with a friend to see Stephen Rea in Sam Shepard's play, "Kicking a Dead Horse". It was a great show, crisp and defined if short at only just over an hour.

Stephen Rea was really incredible. Written by Shepard with Rea in mind (and the Abbey Theatre specifically), "Kicking a Dead Horse" has him explaining how he went riding into the desert in search of "authenticity" only to have his 30 year-old horse inhale some food and die on the spot. He delivers some of the truly funny lines, and at the same time plays a truly real character. His ability to present two voices having an argument inside his own head was fascinating.

There are only a few more shows and then it's done; a really short run after its success earlier this year. There are still tickets available all this coming week (!!). Really, it's short and absolutely worth the effort to see it.

P.S. Other folks had a similar reaction to my own...

2 comments:

  1. I'm ashamed to say I've never been in the Abbey. Never. And I've only been in the Gate once.

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  2. SL - you need to embrace your ponsy theatre loving self. I love the theatre. I've gotten into it more in recent years. Its not that hard and there's the festival coming up which nicely clashes with my birthday. I'm going to see History Boys in Olympia for my birthday if yourself and the mrs fancy a night out. Or there are a few others I'm planning to see.

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