Cast Set for THE BEACON at The Everyman

Set against the beautiful backdrop of an island off the coast of West Cork, The Beacon tells the story of Beiv, a celebrated feminist painter, who is seeking solitude in her seaside home after a turbulent past. When her estranged son Colm arrives with his new American wife Bonnie, the reunion quickly unravels into a storm of accusations, secrets, and long-buried trauma. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Beiv’s ex-husband looms large as a visiting podcaster seeks to uncover the truth.
 
Hollywood and Broadway Irish actress Geraldine Hughes, who starred in Rocky Balboa, Gran Torino and The Good Wife, and whose Broadway credits include Jerusalem and Translations, returns to Ireland to play Beiv.
 
Geraldine said: “I’m excited to be a part of this production at The Everyman. It’s wonderful to be asked to tread the boards in Ireland again after such a long time away. It’s especially thrilling to be part of Des’ first season as Artistic Director.”
 
Cast also includes West Cork’s Ayoola Smart (Killing Eve,The Wheel of Time) as Bonnie; Leonard Buckley (The Velveteen Rabbit) will play Beiv’s son Colm. Ross O’Donnellan (Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast) plays Donal, a local and important figure from Colm’s past. Finally, to round off the cast, Fair City actor Stephen O’Leary plays the role of Ray. Stephen recently starred in Making History in The Everyman.
 
The Beacon is written by Nancy Harris, the award-winning playwright and screenwriter of The Dry, and directed by Sara Joyce, who returns to The Everyman having directed Druid’s hugely successful The Last Return, which played The Everyman in 2023.
 
Joyce shared “I’m a long-time admirer of Nancy Harris’ writing so it’s a true privilege to be reviving her incredible play The Beacon where it is actually set, in Cork. There’s a beautiful ferocity in each of the characters that is perhaps borne in the West Cork Island that at once imprisons and emancipates them. The story is darkly funny and thrillingly suspenseful, insider eyeing outsider eyeing insider. It’s exactly the type of world I want to get lost in - family politics, steamy love affairs and of course, accusations of murder.”
 
Artistic Director, Des Kennedy, says “we are delighted to be producing this modern masterpiece and thrilled to be giving a West-Cork set play its long-awaited Cork premiere. I think Nancy is one of our greatest writers so it’s fitting that her work is presented in a season that also includes O’Casey, Brian Friel, Caryl Churchill, and Marie Jones.
 
I’m a big fan of the murder mystery genre and reading this play was as gripping as any novel, documentary, or murder podcast I’ve enjoyed in recent memory. It feels rich and textured like a classic play, yet utterly contemporary.
 
Sara Joyce has assembled a world class cast and creative team, including hugely acclaimed US-based Irish stage and screen actress, Geraldine Hughes.
 
Our EVERYMAN MADE season presents a series of plays that ask big questions of the audience. This play is full of fascinating ideas about art, family, identity, sex, queerness, and violence. It’s edge of your seat stuff - and that’s the best kind of theatre.”
 

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