TRADE
“…the effect is perfect, and the result is a privilege.”
– The Irish Independent
“…it closes around your heart like a fist.”
– The Irish Times
“…they fearlessly probe the big questions of responsibility,
guilt, parenting, religion, sexuality.”
– The Guardian
“This is just this. It isn’t real. It’s money.”
In a guesthouse in Dublin’s north inner city, a vulnerable and confused young rent-boy sits with a middle-aged client. It’s not the first time they’ve met but today the older man has blood on his shirt. A lot has happened since they last met. Multiple award-winning Mark O’Halloran is one of Ireland’s most celebrated screenwriters and has received worldwide acclaim with his films Adam & Paul and Garage. Performed in a real-life bed and breakfast, Trade is a provocative and moving exploration of desire, morality and duty, and is O’Halloran’s first stage play in ten years.
Stark, intimate and beautiful, Trade saw the coming together of some of Ireland’s greatest theatre artists. It premiered at Dublin Theatre Festival 2011 in an offsite B&B in Dublin’s north inner city.
Trade was commissioned and produced by THISISPOPBABY.
Written by: Mark O’Halloran
Directed by: Tom Creed
Performed by: Philip Judge & Ciarán McCabe
Designed by: Ciarán O’Melia
Produced by: Phillip McMahon & Jennifer Jennings
Stage Manager: Lucie Ryan Donnelly
Production Manager: Marty Moore
Production Photography: Fiona Morgan
Graphic Design: Niall Sweeney at Pony Ltd.