A favourite returns to the Everyman

Audiences in Cork and beyond will get another chance to watch Marina Carr’s critically acclaimed adaption of ‘To the Lighthouse’ when it returns to the Everyman’s streaming service this month.

Regarded as a masterpiece of modernism, Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel ‘To the Lighthouse’ tells the story of the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.

For this production, Woolf’s novel was adapted by prolific Dublin playwright Marina Carr and then vividly brought to life by award-winning director Annabelle Comyn.

Filmed on The Everyman stage, the digital capture of the stage production received huge praise on its premiere broadcast as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival in 2021.

Now audiences will have a chance to watch this beautifully orchestrated production once again when it returns for a limited on-demand stream from 19-26 March.

The play opens on the Ramsay family and carefree days spent with friends by the sea. Children play, Mr Carmichael reclines with handkerchief over his face, Lily paints her picture and six year old James wants to sail to the Lighthouse. Life is sweet. But what appears tranquil on the surface, masks deep currents of longing and frustration which the characters struggle to contain.

With the promise of a trip to the lighthouse cancelled, tensions in the home and beyond rupture violently and fling these lives into turmoil and change. The world is in transition and death becomes a footnote to a seismic global change. Those who remain try to cope in a new era and with the loss that it brings.

The production boasts an all-star cast including Maura Bird, Colin Campbell, Declan Conlon, Derbhle Crotty, Aoife Duffin, Nick Dunning, Olwen Fouere, and Alex Murphy.

Woolf’s text is written in a form where thoughts and emotions are foregrounded. Marina Carr’s adaptation captures the constant flux of the characters’ inner thoughts and re-imagines them in a theatrical landscape. It recalls childhood emotions and highlights emptiness and yearning in adult relationships. Among the play's many themes are those of loss, subjectivity, the nature of art, unity, and the problem of perception.

‘To the Lighthouse’ is presented internationally in partnership with the Irish Arts Centre New York, and Theatre by the Lake, UK. It was first commissioned by Hatch Theatre Company in association with Project Arts Centre and core funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

For tickets and streaming, visit everymancork.com. Tickets cost €15 for multiple viewing or €10 for a single viewing.