Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, a staged reading by Andrew Bennett
Claire Keegan’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Small Things Like These, an unforgettable story of hope and heroism, is brought to the stage with Andrew Bennett (Seán in the Oscar-nominated The Quiet Girl/ An Cailín Ciúin) accompanied by new music from singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy (A Woman’s Heart).
Described as “resonant and deeply moving” by Hilary Mantel, Small Things Like These is set in an Irish rural town in the 1980s in the run up to Christmas: as coal merchant Bill Furlong does his rounds, he discovers a girl locked away in terrible conditions in the local convent.
Unlike the silent majority, he decides to do something about it.
This staged reading of Small Things Like These is performed masterfully by Andrew Bennett. One of the finest actors of his generation, Andrew recently completed a new series for Sky Originals, Small Town, Big Story, and Blackshore for the BBC.
Eleanor McEvoy performs original music she composed for Small Things Like These. Her critically acclaimed canon of work spans sixteen albums, with numerous cover versions of her songs by Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Phil Coulter, Eliza Carthy, Jack L, and Saint Sister.
Presented by Four Rivers, Small Things Like These is directed by former Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, Ben Barnes. Recent directing credits include The Last Stand (Four Rivers), Madama Butterfly (INO), Lights Out (Four Rivers) and Jim Nolan’s new play Castel Gandolfo (Four Rivers).
“This production plays to the versatility in Claire Keegan’s language, with which she fills her simple tale with maximum drama… It will doubtlessly send many [people] back to Keegan’s wonderful book”
– Jackie Hayden
“A timely and powerful book”
– The Irish Times
