Note of shock in hard-hitting play

The Events uses a different Cork choir each night in the manner of a Greek-style chorus reacting to events, writes Colette Sheridan.

Making sense of a senseless act is how actor Derbhle Crotty describes her character’s quest in The Events, written by Scottish playwright David Greig. This is a play about a mass shooting, prompted by — but not based on — the killing of 27 people in Norway in 2011 by right-wing extremist Anders Breivik.

The play, which debuted at Edinburgh last year, is produced by the London-based Actors Touring Company. It was voted ‘best play’ of 2013 by The Guardian and won The Scotsman Fringe First Awards. Crotty plays a priest in a small seaside village. A boy walks into her choir rehearsal and slaughters several members.