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{{short description|National Theatre of Ireland, Dublin
{{About|the Abbey Theatre, Dublin}}
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▲{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox Theatre
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|website = {{url|www.abbeytheatre.ie}}
}}
The '''Abbey Theatre''' ({{
In its early years, the theatre was closely associated with the writers of the [[Irish Literary Revival]], many of whom were involved in its founding and most of whom had plays staged there. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of leading [[Irish theatre|Irish playwrights]], including [[William Butler Yeats]], [[Augusta, Lady Gregory|Lady Gregory]], [[Seán O'Casey]] and [[John Millington Synge]], as well as leading actors.
==History==
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[[File:AbbeyPosterOpeningNight.jpg|thumb|140px|A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December 1904 to 3 January 1905]]
The Abbey arose from three distinct bases.
The second base involved the work of two Dublin directors, [[William Fay|William]] and [[Frank Fay (Irish actor)|Frank]] Fay.<ref>Kavanagh, p. 30.</ref> William worked in the 1890s with a touring company in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, while his brother Frank was involved in amateur dramatics in Dublin.
The third base was the financial support and experience of [[Annie Horniman]],<ref name=EB/> a middle-class Englishwoman with previous experience
The founding of the Theatre is also connected with a broader wave of change found in European drama at the end of the nineteenth century. The founding of Théâtre Libre in Paris in 1887 and the work of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1895 represented a challenge to a "stale metropolitanism".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Film: "The Abbey Theatre: the First 100 years"|last=Lynch|first=John|date=2004|work=RTÉ}}</ref> This movement echoes Lady Gregory's commitment and determination to make the Abbey Theatre a theatre for the people.<ref name="
===Foundation===
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Encouraged by the St Theresa's Hall success, Yeats, Lady Gregory, Æ, Martyn, and John Millington Synge founded the Irish National Theatre Society in 1903 with funding from Horniman. They were joined by actors and playwrights from Fay's company. At first, they staged performances in the Molesworth Hall.<ref>Mikhail, E. H. ''The Abbey Theatre: Interviews and Recollections', Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, October 1987. p. 97. {{ISBN|0-389-20616-4}}</ref> When the [[Mechanics' Theatre]] in Lower Abbey Street and an adjacent building in Marlborough Street became available after fire safety authorities closed it, Horniman and William Fay agreed to buy and refit the space to meet the society's needs.<ref>McCormack, W. J. (ed.). ''The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture'', Blackwell Publishing, 28 January 2002. p. 7. {{ISBN|0-631-22817-9}}</ref>
On 11 May 1904, the Society formally accepted Horniman's offer of the use of the building. As Horniman did not usually reside in Ireland, the royal [[letters patent]] required were granted in the name of Lady Gregory, although paid for by Horniman.
On 27 December, the curtains went up on opening night. The bill consisted of three one-act plays, ''On Baile's Strand'' and ''Cathleen Ní Houlihan'' by Yeats, and ''[[Spreading the News]]'' by Lady Gregory.
In 1905 without properly consulting Horniman, Yeats, Lady Gregory and Synge decided to turn the theatre into a [[limited liability company]], the National Theatre Society Ltd.<ref>Richards, Shaun. ''The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, February 2004. p. 63. {{ISBN|0-521-00873-5}}</ref> Annoyed by this treatment, Horniman hired [[Ben Iden Payne]], a former Abbey employee, to help run a new repertory company which she founded in [[Manchester, England|Manchester]].<ref>Butler Yeats, William. ''The Collected Letters of W. B. Yeats: Volume IV: 1905–1907'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, Republished 1996. p. 616. {{ISBN|0-19-812684-0}}</ref> Leading actors [[Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh]], Honor Lavelle ([[Helen Laird]]), Emma Vernon, Máire Garvey, Frank Walker, [[Seamus O'Sullivan]], [[Pádraic Colum]] and [[George Roberts (publisher)|George Roberts]] left the Abbey.<ref>Edward Kenny (nephew of Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh): The Splendid Years: recollections of Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh, as told to Edward Kenny, with appendices and lists of Irish theatre plays, 1899–1916. Duffy and Co., Dublin. 1955</ref>
The press was impressed with the building and the ''Cork Constitution'' wrote that "the theatre has neither orchestra nor bar, and the principal entrance is through a building which was formerly the Dublin morgue."<ref name="
==== Contributions of founders and funders ====
===== Lady Gregory =====
Gregory helped create the Irish Literary Theatre, which would later form one base for the INTS, with W.B. Yeats and Edward Martyn. She met Yeats in 1898,<ref name="
In 1903, when Horniman offered the INTS a theatre, Lady Gregory schemed to bypass the terms of the deal. She didn't like Horniman and was happy when she left, saying she was "free from her and from further foreign invasion."<ref name="bts 205">{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|pages=205}}</ref> She wrote many plays for the theatre, specializing in the one-act play.
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The Abbey Theatre is sometimes called Yeats' theatre or a manifestation of his own artistic ambitions and ideals. He wanted a theatre in which the playwright's words were the most important thing, prevailing over the actor and the audience. It was very important to him that the authors had control. It was because of him and his efforts that Lady Gregory, Synge and he became the Board of Directors of the INTS.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|last=Frazier|first=Adrian|publisher=University of California Press|year=1990|isbn=0-520-06549-2|location=Los Angeles|pages=xiii|url=https://archive.org/details/behindscenesyeat0000fraz}}</ref> It was only after meeting Lady Gregory that Yeats thought the creation of such a theatre possible. He worked closely with her for almost a year before the first production of the ILT, during which his play ''Cathleen Ni Houlihan'' and Edward Martyn's ''The Heather Field'' were performed to great success, some even calling it "the cultural event of the decade,"<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the scenes : Yeats, Horniman and the struggle for the Abbey theatre|author=Adrian Woods Frazier|date=1990|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520065492|oclc=465842168|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/behindscenesyeat0000fraz}}</ref> though some accused him of being too political or even of writing a heretical play.
He then adopted a new, more inclusive politic, which helped him and Lady Gregory recruit many new patrons, most Protestant and/or Unionist. As early as 1900, Yeats sent a letter to Lady Gregory that implied that he was confident about finding a reliable patron who, at the time, remained anonymous. The patron he was talking about was Annie Horniman, who had anonymously financed Yeats' first play in 1884. By that point, he was starting to want The Abbey to be seen as nationalist.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|last=Frazier|first=Adrian|publisher=University of California Press|year=1990|isbn=0-520-06549-2|location=Los Angeles|pages=[https://archive.org/details/behindscenesyeat0000fraz/page/27 27]|url=https://archive.org/details/behindscenesyeat0000fraz/page/27}}</ref> However, by October 1901, he had lost interest in the ILT as a mean to express his artistic vision, as he was forced to make sacrifices to accommodate co-workers. He chose to stay because of his relationship with Horniman, who he saw as a
His relationship with Horniman was essential to his projects, so much so that he declared in front of an audience that he would not accept money from Nationalists and Unionists, which forced him to change the entire politics of the INTS. He gave this speech in 1903 and by 1904 he was the president of the Abbey Theatre. When Horniman left, he wanted to bring back the nationalist aspect the theatre once had but was stopped by a threat from Horniman to close it down; he finally had the last word with the help of Bernard Shaw and Lady Gregory. During the summer of 1909, Shaw offered his play ''Blanco Posnet'' to the Abbey, a play previously censored that allowed him to challenge British authority and to come back to the good graces of Nationalists, thus giving him a new reputation and making the INTS closer to becoming "a representative Irish Institution." Following Horniman's offer to sell him back the theatre, he then tried to "play" her so that she would pay more.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|pages=219–230}}</ref> Yeats, with the help of Lady Gregory, bought the Abbey back and sued Horniman for the subsidy he believed that she owed but won only on the principle,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|pages=235–238}}</ref> and did not receive the money.
===== Miss Annie Horniman =====
Annie Horniman, a British theatre enthusiast and manager, was essential in the creation of the Abbey
She supported him as well as the INTS with financial support as she came from a rich family and, in 1903, after Yeats eloquently declared his apolitical theatrical ideals, she offered to give him a theatre in Dublin worth thirteen thousand pounds, but for the deal to work, she had strict conditions. Firstly, she requested that his speech, essays on the "Irish National Theatre," and her offer be made public. Secondly, the point she stressed most, there were to be no politics at all.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|pages=49–50, 75–77}}</ref> She finally gave the building for the Abbey Theatre in 1904, but remained the owner. Yeats accepted her terms but Gregory and Synge worked on finding ways to finesse their way around them before officially accepting. She didn't want to have anything to do with Irish politics, especially not nationalism, and was very reactive to anything she saw as political, which caused several inflammatory feuds with her colleagues. She also did not care for the accessibility of theatre, which was an important issue for the founders, and she created additional rules for ticket pricing, and made the Abbey Theatre one of the most expensive theatres in Dublin.<ref name="int 115"/> From then, she became the manager of the Abbey Theatre. Over the years, she put many times the theatre's value in money back into it in exchange for input on the plays being staged and respect from the company's directors.
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===Early years===
In the early years, there were challenges in finding plays by Irish playwrights,
[[File:John Millington Synge.jpg|right|150px|thumb|[[John Millington Synge]], author of ''[[The Playboy of the Western World]]'', which caused riots at the Abbey on the play's opening night]]
The Abbey's fortunes worsened in January 1907 when the opening of Synge's ''[[The Playboy of the Western World]]'' resulted in civil disturbance.<ref name=EB/> The troubles (since known as the ''[[Playboy Riots]]'') were encouraged, in part, by [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]] who believed the theatre was insufficiently political and who took offence at Synge's use of the word '[[Chemise|shift]]', as it was known at the time as a symbol representing [[Kitty O'Shea]] and adultery, and hence was seen as a slight on the virtue of Irish womanhood.<ref>Price, Alan ''Synge and Anglo-Irish Drama'', London: Methuen, 1961. pp. 15, 25.</ref> Much of the crowd rioted loudly, and the actors performed the remainder of the play in [[dumbshow]].<ref>Isherwood, Charles. "A Seductive Fellow Returns, but in a Darker Mood", ''New York Times'', 28 October 2004.</ref> The theatre's decision to call in the police further roused the anger of the nationalists.
In 1909, Shaw's ''[[The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet]]'' led to further protests. The subsequent discussion occupied a full issue of the theatre's journal ''The Arrow.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McKenna|first=Bernard|date=Winter 2015|title=Yeats, The Arrow, and the Aesthetics of a 'National, Moral Culture': The Blanco Posnet Affair|journal=Journal of Modern Literature|volume=38|issue=2|pages=16–28|jstor=10.2979/jmodelite.38.2.16|doi=10.2979/jmodelite.38.2.16|s2cid=142799874 }}</ref> Also that year, the proprietors decided to make the Abbey independent of Annie Horniman, who had indicated a preference for this course. Relations with Horniman had been tense, partly because she wished to be involved in choosing which plays were to be performed and when. As a mark of respect for the death of [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII]], an understanding existed that Dublin theatres were to close on the night of 7 May 1910. Robinson, however, kept the Abbey open.<ref>Leland, Mary. ''The Lie of the Land: Journeys Through Literary Cork'', Cork: Cork University Press, 2000. p. 238. {{ISBN|1-85918-231-3}}</ref> When Horniman heard of Robinson's decision, she severed her connections with the company. By her own estimate, she had invested £10,350—worth approximately $1 million in 2007 US dollars—on the project.<ref>Welch, Robert, Stewart, Bruce. ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, January 1996. p. 3. {{ISBN|0-19-866158-4}}</ref>
With the loss of Horniman, Synge, and the Fays, the Abbey under Robinson tended to drift, suffering from falling public interest and box office returns. This trend was halted for a time by the emergence of [[Seán O'Casey]] as an heir to Synge.<ref>Kavanagh, pp. 118, 127, 137.</ref> O'Casey's career as a dramatist began with ''[[The Shadow of a Gunman]]'', staged by the Abbey in 1923. This was followed by ''[[Juno and the Paycock]]'' in 1924, and ''[[The Plough and the Stars]]'' in 1926. Theatregoers arose in riots over the last play, in a way reminiscent of those that had greeted the ''Playboy'' 19 years earlier.<ref>Kavanagh, p. 135.</ref> Concerned about public reaction, the Abbey rejected O'Casey's next play. He emigrated to London shortly thereafter.<ref>Collins, Glenn. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/13/theater/o-casey-s-widow-muses-on-his-friendship-with-shaw.html O'Casey's Widow Muses on His Friendship With Shaw"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727121330/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/13/theater/o-casey-s-widow-muses-on-his-friendship-with-shaw.html |date=27 July 2018 }}, ''New York Times'', 13 November 1989. Retrieved 21 January 2008.</ref>
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====Affiliated schools====
The [[Abbey School of Acting]] was set up
====The Peacock and the Gate====
{{anchor|Peacock}}<!-- [[Peacock Theatre, Dublin]] redirects here-->
Around this time the company acquired additional space, allowing them to create a small experimental theatre, the ''Peacock'',
The Gate also sought work from new Irish playwrights and moved to its own premises in 1930. Despite the Peacock space, the Abbey itself entered a period of artistic decline.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} This is illustrated by the story of how one new work was said to have come to the Gate Theatre. [[Denis Johnston]] reportedly submitted his first play, ''Shadowdance'', to the Abbey; however, Lady Gregory rejected it, returning it to the author with "The Old Lady says No" written across the title page.<ref>Welch, Robert, and Stewart, Bruce. ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. p. 275. {{ISBN|0-19-866158-4}}</ref> Johnston decided to re-title the play. The Gate staged ''The Old Lady Says 'No' '' in ''The Peacock'' in 1928. (Note: academic critics Joseph Ronsley and Christine St. Peter have questioned the veracity of this story.)<ref>Bartlett, Rebecca Ann. ''Choice's Outstanding Academic Books, 1992–1997: Reviews of Scholarly Titles'', Association of College & Research Libraries, 1998. p. 136. {{ISBN|0-8389-7929-7}}</ref>
==1930s to 1950s==
The tradition of the Abbey as primarily a writers' theatre survived Yeats' withdrawal from day-to-day involvement. [[Frank O'Connor]] sat on the board from 1935 to 1939, served as managing director from 1937, and had two plays staged during this period.
During the 1940s and 1950s, there was a steady decline in the number of new productions. There were 104 new plays produced from 1930 to 1940, whereas this number dropped to 62 for 1940–1950.<ref name="
During the 1940s and 1950s, the staple fare at the Abbey was a comic farce set in the idealised peasant world of [[Éamon de Valera]]. If such a world had ever existed, it was no longer considered relevant by most Irish citizens, and as a result, audience numbers continued to decline. This drift might have been more dramatic but popular actors, including [[F. J. McCormick]], and dramatists, including [[George Shiels]], could still draw a crowd.<ref>{{cite book | title=Experimental Irish Theatre: After W B Yeats | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | author=Walsh, Ian | pages=80–82}}</ref> [[Austin Clarke (poet)|Austin Clarke]] staged events for his Dublin Verse Speaking Society—later the [[Lyric Theatre, Dublin|Lyric Theatre]]—at the Peacock from 1941 to 1944 and the Abbey from 1944 to 1951.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} Long-time servant [[Nellie Bushell]] left service as an usher in 1948.
==1950s to 1990s==▼
On 17 July 1951, a fire damaged the Abbey Theatre, with only the Peacock remaining intact.<ref>Haggerty, Bridget. "[http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ALandmks/AbbeyTheatre.html Irish Landmarks: The Abbey Theatre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208174803/http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ALandmks/AbbeyTheatre.html |date=8 February 2008 }}". irishcultureandcustoms.com. Retrieved 21 January 2008.</ref> It is often recounted that the building was destroyed in the fire, but [[Frank McDonald (journalist)|Frank MacDonald]] contends this is an overstatement, citing the continued use of the building by the Irish Academy of Letters until its eventual demolition in 1960.<ref name="
The board had plans for rebuilding with a design by the Irish architect [[Michael Scott (architect)|Michael Scott]] which dated back to 1959. The magazine, the ''[[Irish Builder]],'' argued that it was favourable to refurbish the old building rather than build a new one, as "we feel the tourists who come here would prefer to see the old Abbey of Yeats and Synge, rather than the Abbey of Scott."<ref name="
A new building, a new generation of dramatists, including such figures as [[Hugh Leonard]], [[Brian Friel]] and [[Tom Murphy (playwright)|Tom Murphy]], and tourism that included the National Theatre as a key cultural attraction, helped revive the theatre.
▲==1950s to 1990s==
▲A new building, a new generation of dramatists, including such figures as [[Hugh Leonard]], [[Brian Friel]] and [[Tom Murphy (playwright)|Tom Murphy]], and tourism that included the National Theatre as a key cultural attraction, helped revive the theatre. Beginning in 1957, the theatre's participation in the [[Dublin Theatre Festival]] aided its revival. Plays such as [[Brian Friel]]'s ''[[Philadelphia Here I Come!]]'' (1964), ''[[Faith Healer]]'' (1979) and ''[[Dancing at Lughnasa]]'' (1990); [[Tom Murphy (playwright)|Tom Murphy]]'s ''[[A Whistle in the Dark]]'' (1961) and ''[[The Gigli Concert]]'' (1983); and [[Hugh Leonard]]'s ''[[Da (play)|Da]]'' (1973) and ''A Life'' (1980), helped raise the Abbey's international profile through successful runs in the West End in London, and on Broadway in New York City.
Irish American writer and W.B Yeats scholar [[James W. Flannery]] (born 1936) wrote two books about the Abbey Theatre: ''W. B. Yeats and the Idea of a Theatre: The Early Abbey Theatre in Theory and in Practice'' (1976)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220504114549/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-research-international/issue/5AB9FC67D717F3A219EEDB64DE529207 Review of "W. B. Yeats and the Idea of a Theatre"] by [[A. Norman Jeffares]], Theatre Research International, Vol 4 #1, Oct 1978, pp. 68 - 69</ref> and ''Miss Horniman and the Abbey Theatre'' (1970).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Amazon.com|isbn=0196475511 }}</ref> Flannery was the Executive Director of the Yeats International Theatre Festival held at the Abbey Theatre from 1989 to 1993.
==Challenges in the 2000s==
In December 2004 the theatre celebrated its centenary with events that included performances of the original programme by amateur dramatic groups and a production of Michael West's ''Dublin By Lamplight'', originally staged by Annie Ryan for [[The Corn Exchange]] company at the [[Project Arts Centre]] in November 2004.
In September 2004 two members of the theatre's advisory council, playwrights [[Jimmy Murphy (playwright)|Jimmy Murphy]] and [[Ulick O'Connor]], tabled a "motion of no confidence" in Artistic Director Ben Barnes, and criticised him for touring with a play in Australia during the deep financial and artistic crisis at home. Barnes returned and temporarily held his position.<ref>Lavery, Brian. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/theater/newsandfeatures/16abbe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Deficit, Cutbacks and Crisis for Abbey Theater at 100] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106091004/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/theater/newsandfeatures/deficit-cutbacks-and-crisis-for-abbey-theater-at.html |date=6 November 2021 }}". ''New York Times'', 16 September 2004. Retrieved 21 January 2007.</ref> The debacle put the Abbey under great public scrutiny. On 12 May 2005, Barnes and managing director Brian Jackson resigned after it was found that the theatre's deficit of €1.85 million had been underestimated.<ref>Hogan, Louise. "[http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2005/09/30/story948015820.asp Judge appointed to lead Abbey] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301015516/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2005/09/30/story948015820.asp |date=1 March 2009 }}". ''Irish Examiner'', 30 September 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2007.</ref> The new director, [[Fiach Mac Conghail]], due to start in January 2006, took over in May 2005.<ref name="lavery">Lavery, Brian. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/25/theater/newsandfeatures/25abbe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin The Abbey Theater's Fiach Mac Conghail Takes a Cue From Yeats"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017075230/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/25/theater/newsandfeatures/25abbe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |date=17 October 2015 }}, ''New York Times'', 25 March 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2007.</ref>
==Reestablishment==
On 20 August 2005, the Abbey Theatre's Advisory Council approved a plan to dissolve the Abbey's owner, the National Theatre Society, and replace it with a [[company limited by guarantee]], the Abbey Theatre Limited.
In 2009, the Literary Department announced the pilot of a new development initiative, the ''New Playwrights Programme''. The six writers who took part in this pilot programme were [[Aidan Harney]], Lisa Keogh, Shona McCarthy, Jody O'Neill, Neil Sharpson and Lisa Tierney-Keogh.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/abbey-theatre-saga-takes-new-twist-1.738914 | title=Abbey Theatre Saga Takes New Twist |
More than 30 writers were commissioned by the Abbey after Mac Conghail was appointed director in May 2005,<ref>"[http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/6497 MacConghail takes charge at Abbey Theatre"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215221843/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/6497 |date=15 February 2005 }}, ''The Stage Newspaper'', 15 February 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2007.</ref> and the Abbey produced new plays by Tom Murphy, Richard Dormer, Gary Duggan, Billy Roche, Bernard Farrell and Owen McCafferty. The Abbey also developed a relationship with the [[Public Theater]] in New York, where it has presented two new plays: ''Terminus'' by [[Mark O'Rowe]] and [[Sam Shepard]]'s ''[[Kicking a Dead Horse]]''. The Abbey also made a historic move in 2009/10 by producing four consecutive new plays by women writers: ''B for Baby'' by Carmel Winter, ''No Romance'' by Nancy Harris, ''Perve'' by Stacey Gregg and ''16 Possible Glimpses'' by [[Marina Carr]].
The Abbey ran a special programme, ''Waking the Nation'', to commemorate the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916. Some controversy arose over the fact that of ten productions, only one, a monologue for children, was by a female playwright.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carr |first1=Aoife |title=Abbey admits programme does not represent gender equality |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/abbey-admits-programme-does-not-represent-gender-equality-1.2422926 |access-date=13 November 2018 |
==Co-directors and new building plans==
In 2016, the Abbey's direction passed to two co-directors on five-year contracts.
After discussions about new locations in the Docklands, on O'Connell Street and elsewhere, it was decided to redevelop the Abbey in
In February 2021, after open competition, two new co-directors were appointed, Caitriona McLaughlin as Artistic Director and Mark O'Brien as Executive Director.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abbey Theatre announces new Artistic and Executive Directors |url=https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0223/1198845-abbey-theatre-announces-new-artistic-and-executive-directors/ |website=www.rte.ie |date=23 February 2021 |access-date=11 August 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811221148/https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0223/1198845-abbey-theatre-announces-new-artistic-and-executive-directors/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References==
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* [http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0914/abbey.html ''Arts Council voices concern over Abbey'']—RTÉ News
* [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0513/abbey.html Resignations]—RTÉ News.
* [http://archives.lib.siu.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=487 Abbey Theatre Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726112456/http://archives.lib.siu.edu/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=487 |date=26 July 2020 }} at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections Research Center
* [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8xwqq Abbey Theatre Collection] at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
*[http://bc-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?onCampus=false&docId=ALMA-BC21330989530001021&vid=bclib&institution=BCL Abbey Theatre Collection] at the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
* [https://
{{coord|53|20|54|N|6|15|26|W|region:IE-D_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=title}}
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[[Category:National theatres]]
[[Category:Theatres in Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:Abbey Street]]
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