Verdant Productions Presents: MIASMA
Miasma is a medical detective story set in the London of Charles Dickens’s time. It is the story of a lone doctor who thinks he can stop the most frightening and fatal disease of his day: Cholera. But to do so he will have to defeat popular superstition, the medical profession, the political and media elites… and the disease itself.
This is a story about bad science and good science…
about groupthink and dissent…
about insiders and outsiders…
and about one man taking on the system.
Told with five actors playing multiple parts in a fast-paced, comic format, Miasma illuminates key challenges still at the heart of science and public health today.
In this age of conspiracy theories, misinformation and algorithmic outrage, how do we know when to “trust the science” – and when to trust the scientists?
Miasma will take you back in time, to the story of a lone doctor who was one of the first people to find answers to those questions.
Miasma is a rare opportunity to experience a theatrical event that is intellectually rigorous, emotionally compelling and deeply relevant to contemporary conversations around public health, evidence-based decision-making and trust in science.
Miasma illuminates themes of particular relevance to third-level students of medicine, science, social science and history.
Credit: full costume photos by Carol Cummins.
Cast
Colin Murphy
Colin Murphy is a playwright, screenwriter, and journalist. A collected edition of his plays for Fishamble, Colin Murphy’s Political Plays, has just been published by Bloomsbury Methuen. Other plays include The United States vs Ulysses (with Once Off Productions, Pavilion Theatre and Irish Arts Center), The Asylum Workshop (for TU Dublin Conservatoire) and A Day in May (produced by Pat Moylan). Radio plays include #Antigone (for Newstalk) and the award-winning Hamlet, Prince of Derry (for RTÉ Drama on One). He is currently the Rooney Writer Fellow at Trinity Long Room Hub. He writes a weekly column for The Sunday Independent
Samantha Cade
Recent directing credits include Little One by Hannah Moscovich (Glass Mask Theatre), Pink Parts (Scene & Heard 2025), Casements Defense (International Shaw Conference 2024) and Splitting the G By Shamim DeBrune (Beyond the Pale, Electric Picnic 2024). Since 2018, Samantha has worked as an assistant/associate director for ANU Productions and has worked on some very high profile productions.
Robbie O’Connor
Robbie completed his B.A in Acting at The Lir Academy, Trinity College Dublin. His theatre credits include The Ferryman (The Gaiety Theatre), The Shadow of a Gunman(The Abbey Theatre) and The Red Shoes (The Gate Theatre). His screen credits include: Hidden Assets 3, Cold Case Collins, The Doireann Project and Fair City (RTE).
Peter Rothwell
Peter is a graduate from The Three Year Bachelor in Acting (Hons) Course at The Lir Academy (2022)
Upon graduating Peter’s screen credits include Finn opposite Isabella Gomez in feature film A Royal Rendezvous for Mar Vista and Samson Films directed by Christine Luby, the role of Henry in Christmas in Nottinghill directed by Ali Liebert. On stage Peter has appeared in many productions including Valley of the Squinting Windows, directed by Michael Scott and as Isaiah Conroy in Hammam in the Abbey Theatre directed by Louise Lowe
Niamh McGrath
Niamh McGrath is currently the Artist in Residence at the Hawk’s Well Theatre. Her acclaimed one-woman show, GomBean, which she wrote and performed, was directed by Seamus O’Rourke and produced by the Hawk’s Well, premiering there before embarking on a national tour. Niamh also wrote and performed in Glitchmas and Medium Rare, both recent productions at the Hawk’s Well. Niamh has worked with a wide range of notable theatre companies. Most recently, she appeared in The Quiet Man (Loco & Reckless/Civic Theatre) as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival and played in Peter Sheridan’s Philo at The Gaiety Theatre.
Karl Quinn
Karl Quinn studied Theatre at Trinity College Dublin from 1992-1994. Karl’s recent theatre credits include: Love at the End of Time (Once Off Productions), Hamlet (The Mill Theatre) and The Trolley Man (Carpet Theatre). Film and TV credits include: House of Guinness (Netflix/Kudos), There There (There There, LLC), Holding (ITV/Little Prince), The Castle (Monika Film Productions), Fair City (RTE).
Jack Gavin
Jack is an actor from Dublin who trained at The Gaiety School of Acting. He recently performed his self-penned one-man show ‘Lost in Asia’ at Smock Alley Theatre. His recent theatre credits include: 24 Hour Plays (Abbey Theatre); Hamlet, Macbeth, Under the Table and Made (Smock Alley Theatre). Film/TV Credits include: The Ick (RTE), Harry Wild (RTE/Acorn), The Participants (Still Films), Little Women (BBC), A Grand Stretch in The Evening (Met Film School) and Prosperity (RTE).
“Everyone in the country should see this play!” – Professor Luke O’Neill
The Irish Times called it “an hour of tightly-tuned drama”.
Miasma illuminates themes of particular relevance to third-level students of medicine, science, social science and history.
