Limerick playwright Erica Murray chatted with Limerick Post Newspaper’s Eric FitzGerald ahead of the eagerly anticipated homecoming run of ‘The Loved Ones’
DUE to overwhelming demand, Rough Magic and the Gate Theatre are bringing the critically acclaimed play The Loved Ones directed by Ronan Phelan back to Limerick to Lime Tree Theatre from Thursday, 17 April to Saturday, 19 April.
First performed in Limerick before going for an extended run at The Gate Theatre in 2023, The Loved Ones is a beautifully crafted, funny, and poignant play set in a renovated farmhouse in West Clare.
Erica remembers, “It was really nice to have three or four nights in Limerick first and really special. Then The Gate performances went great.
“The audiences really responded. They were sort of wild with very loud responses to certain moments in the show, which was really fun.”
The story follows Nell, a grieving mother preparing to scatter her son’s ashes with her daughter-in-law, Orla.
Their solemn weekend takes an unexpected turn when Cheryl-Ann, an American tourist seeking a peaceful retreat, arrives.
As the weekend unfolds, an additional guest seeking solace disrupts their plans, leading the four women on an emotional journey filled with humour, revelations, and self-discovery.
A story of loss, love, and laughter
The Loved Ones explores themes of grief, fertility, and personal loss, while infusing these profound topics with a characteristic Irish sense of humour.
Speaking about the origins of the play, Murray shared how the story was shaped by her fascination with characters and their relationships.
“I always start with characters. During lockdown, I began imagining an American tourist and who they might encounter in Ireland. The story developed from there.” Written partly in Liscannor, the play also features an evocative motif of birds, which Murray describes as “a great metaphor for grief, life, and hope.”
The Loved Ones is about four different women who meet by chance in an AirBnB in West Clare.
“They are all suffering their own personal loss, they just lost someone really big in their lives and over the course of the weekend through interacting with each other, their situations change and their opinions of each other change very drastically.”
The play, the director and crew are the same for this national tour with one exception – Margaret McAuliffe is joining the cast.
I wondered if Erica had any parts of the script that she would like to change this time.
“There was one line that was bugging me! She laughs, But the cast were going, No! We like that bit.
“So it’s all the exact same script from The Gate. The actors are still finding new things in it, which is great. They’re leaning into different moments of humour.
“And yeah, they’re playing with it because they know it so well this time around. They’re kind of owning it now.”
The play’s premiere at the Dublin Theatre Festival received outstanding reviews. The Irish Times praised it as “refreshing and deceptively simple”, while The Irish Mail highlighted its “brilliant comic timing”. The Irish Independent described it as a “glorious personality clash extravaganza.”
And what does Erica think audiences in Limerick will take away from The Loved Ones at Lime Tree Theatre?
“I think they will feel hopeful, the play is about hope. It’s about putting one foot in front of the other and I think a lot of people can relate to that.”
Erica will be in Limerick for the Saturday performance which closes the Limerick run.
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. It will be brilliant to celebrate the second run of The Loved Ones at Lime Tree.”
The playwright is currently writing a new commission for The Gate Theatre. Is it radically different from The Loved Ones or is there a continuation of some of that plays themes?
“It’s pretty different, actually. I mean, the tone is probably the same, its a relationship drama, like familial relationships, and the comedy that comes from those.
“I guess maybe the tone, style might be similar, but the content and the situation is very, very different.”
We will get to enjoy the story Erica is working on now in due time but in the meantime –
The Loved Ones by Erica Murray plays at Lime Tree Theatre from Thursday April 17 to Saturday April 19. Tickets available now via the Lime Tree Theatre website.
