Sadie, a new play by David Ireland is a Lyric Theatre production in association with Field Day Theatre Company.
It was filmed on the Lyric Main Stage in February as part of BBC Arts ‘Lights up’ theatre campaign for a new Culture in Quarantine Season.
The play will be available on BBC IPlayer for 12 months from 31 March.
Sadie is a dark and complex drama set in Northern Ireland in 2020.
In contravention of lockdown rules sharp-witted cleaner Sadie (Abigail McGibbon) develops an intense, dysfunctional relationship with a much younger man – triggering a psychological showdown with the remnant demons of her past.
A one night stand with the new office temp Joao (Santino Smith) develops into something much more serious when Joao reveals he’s in love with her. Sadie is flattered but with a long history of terrible relationships, she wonders if it’s even possible for her to be happy in love.
To answer that question, she calls upon her long dead uncle Red (Patrick Jenkins), her abusive ex-husband Clark (David Pearse) and her new therapist Mairead (Andrea Irvine).
Together they help her face some horrifying truths she’s kept hidden for too long.
The play is a timely reminder of the escapism and journey a Lyric Theatre production can take you on. Seeing familiar faces acting on a stage in a mesmerising performance triggers many memories and years of live theatre and a yearning to get back again to watch the always memorable Lyric productions.
Sadie is complex and stirs up many emotions. One minute your laughing. the next you’re watching in disbelief at what’s just been said or done. You’re on a journey through Sadie’s life, how she thinks about certain events, how she’s processed them based on a moment in time, how we now see them and the consequences on her life.
If you miss the theatre, or even if you’ve never been, this is worth watching!
