★★★★ ‘an eloquent, quietly touching play… beautifully written… impeccable performances from Shereen Martin as Lizzie, Justin Avoth as the rebellious Robert, Penelope Beaumont as his mother and Andrew Jarvis as her gardener… Not a noisy play, but one of extraordinary elegiac power’ Michael Billington, The Guardian

★★★★ Critics’ Choice ‘Striking fringe gold again, rising directorial star Blanche McIntyre manages to make Weston-super-Mare seem positively alluring’ Time Out

★★★★ ‘simple, effective and full of humour’ The Telegraph

‘Enterprising UK Premiere… a fine new production… warm, sensitive’ Financial Times

‘Blanche McIntyre directs with flair and elegance’ The Times

‘Director Blanche McIntyre is an attentive, unpretentious director who here exceeds expectation… this jewel of a play’ The Observer

‘should be on everyone’s must-see list’ British Theatre Guide

“Love always comes mysteriously girl, didn’t we know that?”

1892. Lizzie Finn is a celebrated dancer. Charmed by a soldier returning from the war, Lizzie becomes entangled in an intense and passionate affair.  Rich dialogue, humour and original music explore sexuality and sacrifice in this UK Premiere by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed playwrights.

Critics’ Circle Winner Blanche McIntyre directs Sebastian Barry’s witty, tender play about how we survive, how we love, and who we think we are.

Writer Sebastian Barry’s plays include Andersen’s English, The Steward of Christendom, The Pride of Parnell Street, The Pentagonal Dream, Boss Grady’s Boys, Prayers of Sherkin, White Woman Street, Our Lady of Sligo, Hinterland, Whistling Psyche, Fred and Jane, Dallas Sweetman and Tales of Ballycumber. He has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for his novels A Long Long Way (2005) and The Secret Scripture (2008), the latter of which won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Director Blanche McIntyre was the winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Foxfinder and Accolade (Finborough Theatre), the Off West End Theatre Award for Best Director in 2012, and the inaugural winner of the Leverhulme Bursary for Emerging Theatre Directors in 2009. She was Associate Director at Out of Joint in 2010, and Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio and the Finborough Theatre in 2009.

Theatre credits include The Seven Year Itch (Salisbury Playhouse), Repentance/Behind The Lines (ANGLE at the Bush Theatre), Foxfinder, Accolade, Molière or the League of Hypocrites (Finborough Theatre), When Did You Last See My Mother? (Trafalgar Studios), Pinching For My Soul (Focus Theatre Dublin), Birds, Open Heart Surgery (Southwark Playhouse), Wuthering Heights (UK Tour), The Revenger’s Tragedy (BAC), The Master and Margarita (Greenwich Playhouse), Robin Hood (Latitude), Three Hours After Marriage (Union Theatre), A Model for Mankind (Cock Tavern), Doctor Faustus, The Devil Is An Ass, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as Told to Carl Jung by an Inmate of Broadmoor Asylum (White Bear Theatre), Cressida, Lost Hearts, The Invention of Love (Edinburgh Festival). As Associate Director theatre credits include The Big Fellah (Out of Joint 2010 and 2011 tours), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Changeling Theatre Company).