This is Paradise

some wee girl
she’s calling me saying
“Diver isn’t answering my calls”
crying “please I don’t know what to do”

10 April 1998, Belfast.

The Good Friday Agreement is signed, promising peace to Northern Ireland.

Away from all that pageantry, a river is rising in Kate. When a phone call from a desperate young woman compels Kate to return to a relationship she hoped was left in another life, she embarks on a journey which risks breaking the uneasy peace she has since made for herself.

A powerful, intimate and dream-like monologue shot through with the vibrancy of living, Michael John O’Neill’s Popcorn Award-winning This is Paradise, directed by Katherine Nesbitt, and featuring an acclaimed performance from Amy Molloy, explores the ramifications of what happens when one woman is asked to rescue the man who promised to destroy her – and what it takes from any of us to decide to begin again.

Access performances:
BSL interpreted - Wed 17 Aug, 6.30PM [interpreter is Nicolle Murdoch]
Audio Described - Thu 25 Aug, 4PM [describer is Fiona Forbes]*

*Fiona would like those using Audio Description for this performance to meet her 30 minutes before the show time in the box office foyer. To enhance your experience, she has prepared an introduction to the play to tell you some helpful information about the play, set and performance. Ticketholders will be emailed more information on this.

Photography by Lara Cappelli, Design by Michael Cranston

The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, and has received additional support from the Scottish Government's Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund and Creative Scotland’s Recovery Fund for Cultural Organisations.

Reviews

★★★★★'The story she tells is so vivid - and sometimes fiercely comic as well as tragic - that we can almost taste it' - The Scotsman

★★★★★ 'Michael John O’Neill’s script is something remarkable' - The Reviews Hub

★★★★'Actor Amy Molloy delivers an elegant monologue that reveals itself as something greater in this supremely thoughtful show' - Guardian

★★★★ 'Amy Molloy's spellbinding performance' - The Times

★★★★ 'Amy Molloy is captivating' - The Skinny

★★★★'Tightly directed, superbly performed and alternates between compassion and horror' - The List

★★★★ 'A deeply personal story that is performed with total commitment and intensity by Amy Molloy' - Daily Business Magazine

★★★★ 'This is great writing' - Daily Record

★★★★'A raw and unapologetically honest performance' - All Edinburgh Theatre

★★★★ 'Amy Molloy demands the audience's attention' - North West End

★★★★ 'A gripping piece of theatre' - The Wee Review

★★★★‘Has moments of fierce humour’ - Daily Business Magazine

'Michael John O’Neill’s writing is compelling, sharp and sympathetic' - The National

'An intriguing and moving tale of love is expertly narrated by Amy Molloy' - British Theatre Guide

If you have access requirements, please contact our Sales and Welcome Team on boxoffice@traverse.co.uk or 0131 228 1404 so we can arrange reserved seating for you and discuss how else we can best support your visit.