Events » Theatres » The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant

World Premiere

Inspired by The Golovlyov Family by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

An epic family drama, shot through with dark humour, The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant tells the tragic story of a family disintegrating, having lost its moral values.

Arina is an ambitious woman. As a servant girl she marries into the degenerative family she works for, her peasant genes saving it from extinction. Her ruthless energy saves it from bankruptcy and she expands the family estate into an empire. As matriarch she rules with an iron hand, her avarice insatiable - until she begins to wonder what is it all for? She slackens her hold and loses her power to the hypocrisy and relentless grasping of her chosen son.

The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant is a haunting new work from leading Irish dramatist Tom Murphy, who has worked closely with the Abbey throughout his career. His plays include Alice Trilogy, The House, The Wake, A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant, The Morning After Optimism, Famine, The Sanctuary Lamp, Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark, Bailegangaire and The Gigli Concert.

"The most distinctive, the most restless, the most obsessive imagination in the Irish theatre today."
Brian Friel on Tom Murphy

An Abbey Theatre Commission.