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The Cave (Playscript)

Kevin Barry

An unforgettable black comedy from one of Ireland’s most beloved writers (The Heart in WinterNight Boat to Tangier).

Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780571399413
Date Published
19.06.2025
Delivery
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Summary

An unforgettable black comedy from one of Ireland’s most beloved writers (author of Night Boat to Tangier and City of Bohane).

We were the last two bucks of the McRaes left standin’ . . . And the McRae name had gone back for a long time around these hills . . . Oh, for decades and centuries unending, the rain that fell on these hills fell only to spite the McRaes . . .

High in the mountains of south County Sligo, the McRae brothers are sleeping rough. Stuck in a dead zone and running out of road, Archie and Bopper have only each other to rely on as they try to restart their van, their lives and their Wi-Fi connection. And then there’s the local police sergeant who is becoming more and more interested in their lives . . .

The Cave was first produced at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in June 2025.

Critic Reviews

Bleakly funny . . . Like Samuel Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon, the two men worry over matters of existential importance, but we get more sense here of the characters’ place in wider society.

Irish Times
Critic Reviews

Heavy with rich and dark humour . . . A fascinating portrayal of the depths to which we can fall. It’s as strong a piece of new work as we’ve seen on the Abbey stage in recent years.

No More Workhorse
Critic Reviews

Kevin Barry’s dark-humoured, Beckettian take on rural dysfunction.

Guardian
Critic Reviews

Barry can create a sensationally funny line, idea, or image, especially as regards our online fascinations . . . Entertaining and eminently enjoyable.

Arts Review
Critic Reviews

It’s Flann O’Brien meets Pat McCabe meets Enda Walsh meets Sam Beckett meets Tom Murphy meets Martin McDonagh, all played out on an outcrop of rock overlooking some benighted market town in Co Sligo.

Irish Examiner

KevinBarry

Kevin Barry is the author of the story collections ‘Dark Lies The Island‘ and ‘There Are Little Kingdoms’ and the novel ‘City Of Bohane‘. He has been awarded the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize and…

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KevinBarry