DUBLIN THEATRE FESITVAL 2026: Review: REFUGE, Pavilion Theatre

There is an undeniable necessity to the questions Deirdre Kinahan poses in Refuge. Presented by Fishamble: The New Play Company and Staatstheater Mainz at the Pavilion Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, director Jim Culleton’s production examines what it means to belong, flee, and rebuild on unfamiliar ground. Yet despite its visual polish and vital subject matter, the evening remains curiously distance-bound, offering an experience that feels respectable, but edges toward the underwhelming.

The narrative bridges two distinct timelines of displacement tied to Irish soil. In 1710, German Palatine refugee Hannah (Hannah Von Peinen) settles in Limerick with her husband Peter (Holger Kraft) and son Ludwig. As tensions rise between Protestant settlers, Irish locals, and landlords, Peter joins a militia, leading to Ludwig’s death and Hannah’s tragic descent into the river. Running parallel is the modern story of Zabi (Sabah Qalo), a young Afghan refugee hiding by an Irish riverbank following a brutal racist attack in Dublin. Zabi’s trauma echoes across centuries to Hannah’s spectral presence.

Visually, the production is stunning. Matthias Werner’s set and Ulrich Schneider’s lighting construct a painterly environment. However, the design feels static. Rather than functioning as an active theatrical engine, its visual beauty merely frames the action. The aesthetic sheen and live musical accompaniment by Steve Wickham add atmosphere, but fail to generate genuine dramatic friction.

The historical strand finds its most compelling tension in the domestic clash between tradition and adaptation, evoking a structural parallel to Fiddler on the Roof. Like Tevye striving to hold fast to traditional boundaries while his children push beyond them, Hannah and Peter split sharply over navigating their new home. Hannah forms a quiet connection with her Irish neighbor, Herr Ireland (Aidan Kelly), while Peter retreats into militarized insularity. When Ludwig breaks from parental control and dies, the political displacement shrinks to an intimate family scale.

Both timelines function smoothly side-by-side, but the execution across the ensemble remains capable rather than revelatory. Lina Maria Stein’s costumes carry heavy lifting to distinguish the eras, yet the overall atmosphere settles into a mythical haze that hinders deeper emotional conviction. Refuge possesses a noble emotional premise, connecting loss and the search for asylum, but its underlying urgency gets muted under a quiet, handsome surface.

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