"Ireland's play slyly makes the case that it is not discrimination
that ensures survival . . . but rather the ability to be two opposing
things at once: Irish and British, politician and terrorist, even comedy
and tragedy. If tragicomedy is the natural Irish form, Ireland makes his
own inversion here, beginning with amused splutters, ending in hard
gulps" Irish Times
Eric Miller is a Belfast Loyalist. He believes his five-week old
granddaughter is Gerry Adams. His family keep telling him to stop living
in the past and fighting old battles that nobody cares about anymore,
but his cultural heritage is under siege. He must act.
David Ireland's black comedy takes one man's identity crisis to the
limits as he uncovers the modern day complexity of Ulster Loyalism.
Cyprus Avenue premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in 2016, before
transferring to the Royal Court Theatre, The MAC in Belfast and The
Public Theater in New York. It won Best New Play at the Irish Times
Theatre Awards and the James Tait Black Prize for Drama, 2017.
This edition features a new introduction by Professor Ondrej Pilny.