Eoghan Quinn’s play Visions explores competing visions for Dublin

A Dublin Dance Hall Becomes a Battleground

Hanging above a sparsely furnished rehearsal room in a Georgian building in Dublin, an enormous chandelier sets a paradoxical tone for Eoghan Quinn’s new play. Staged at the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, Visions runs until Saturday, November 14th.

Real Estate, Preservation, and the City Under Pressure

The production unfolds within a liminal space that blurs the lines between a physical setting and a theatrical framework. Project manager Denise, played by Derbhle Crotty, works to renovate a former north inner-city dance hall. She contends with personal pressures, including caring for a parent and a relationship with a younger man. To handle the renovation, she enlists her late father’s friend Tadhg, portrayed by Mark Lambert, whose deep attachment to the past leaves him more interested in preservation than construction.

Complicating the project further, the space is slated for a thirtysomething tech bro played by Oliver Flitcroft, while a millennial activist named Aimee, played by Lauren Larkin, fights to secure the hall as a creative venue. The production explores a city under pressure as these characters embody competing visions for Dublin. Outside the walls of the venue, the fictional and real worlds collide over far-right rallies, water-charge protests, terror attacks, and Leinster rugby fans.

Mindfulness Session Triggers Shift in Performance

As the narrative progresses, Denise leads the group through a mindfulness session that triggers a formal shift in the performance. The narrator, Ghaliah Conroy, attempts to maintain structural order through words and movement before the boundaries between the text, characters, and set entirely dissolve. Director Claire O’Reilly guides this transformation with a lithe set designed by Katie Davenport and deceptive lighting by John Gunning.

Critics Say Thematic Symbolism Overshadows Character Development

Reviewers note that the production leans heavily into its thematic symbolism. Rarely has so much been asked of a lamp.

The script incorporates numerous contemporary Dublin anxieties, touching on vulture funds, a lack of creative spaces, and generational divides. Despite strong performances from Crotty and Conroy, critics observe that the heavy focus on theme leaves the characters functioning primarily as ideological stand-ins rather than fully developed individuals.