Eileen Walsh to star in marathon 24-hour play at Cork Midsummer Festival 2025
Eileen Walsh will perform for 24 hours in The Second Woman.
Cork Midsummer Festival has revealed the first play on its programme for the 2025 event, a fascinating piece that will star one of the city’s greatest actors.
Eileen Walsh returns to Leeside to star in a 24-hour duration play that has wowed audiences in other productions around the world.
The Second Woman will feature the Quaker Road-raised actress playing out the same scene with 100 different males over its marathon run-time. Both characters on stage are in a relationship that has lost its spark, and while Walsh will have scripted lines, she won’t have rehearsed with her male counterparts at Cork Opera House, ensuring plenty improvisation along the way.
Adjectives such as “astonishing” and “event theatre” were heaped on a recent production starring Ruth Wilson at the Young Vic in London in 2023.
Anna Breckon and Nat Randall were inspired to create The Second Woman by John Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night, starring Gena Rowlands. The Australian duo will be in Cork to direct the latest version.
“Show me an actor that doesn’t love Cassevettes or adore Gena Rowlands,” said Walsh, who made her breakthrough with Disco Pigs in 1996, and again recently starred alongside Cillian Murphy in the film adaptation of Small Things Like These. “I like to turn people on. And that’s what theatre is, sex.”
As well as the endurance test for Walsh, the 24-hour format will present certain challenges for organisers who are providing several options for attendees: a 24-hour ticket which will be valid for the entire 4pm to 4pm experience; a scheduled entry time ticket for those planning on shorter stays; and an option to take your chances and turn up at the door at any time during the performance. Prices will range from €20 to €55, and the piece is deemed suitable for ages 15+.
“This is a show like no other you will have ever seen before,” said Lorraine Maye, director of Cork Midsummer Festival. “This is going to be sensational, one of those ‘were you there?’ moments that people will be talking about for years to come.”
- The Second Woman runs at Cork Opera House from 4pm on Saturday, June 14, to 4pm on Sunday, June 15. Cork Midsummer Festival takes place June 13-22. Tickets are now on sale via www.corkmidsummer.com
