Dolly West's Kitchen is a dark Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and deeply Chekhovian play written by playwright Frank McGuinness

Frank McGuinness

Professor Frank McGuinness is an award-winning Irish playwright and poet. As well as his own works, which include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, he is recognised for a "strong record of adapting literary classics, having translated the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen and...

. Dolly West's Kitchen was first staged in the Abbey Theatre

Abbey Theatre

The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...

, Dublin in 1999. Set during the Second World War in the town of Buncrana, Co. Donegal, the play tells the story of the West family and how they deal with the war in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the war that ensues in their very own kitchen.

Plot

The play is set in 1943 during the second world war in the small town of Buncrana, on the border with Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 during the Emergency. Dolly West is home after fleeing Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 before the war. She runs the household for her elderly mother Rima, her elder sister Esther and her younger brother Justin. Also living in the house is Esther's husband Ned and the housemaid Anna. Justin, a junior Officer in the Irish army is deeply nationalistic and in favour of Irish neutrality

Neutral country

A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...

.

But questions are asked of the neutrality of both Ireland and the house, when three foreigners are invited across the border into the house by Rima. The first is Alec, an English officer, and former lover of Dolly's. The other two are American soldiers, Marco and Jamie. Soon clashes over issues of loyalty, jealousy, sexual identity and love creep into Dolly West's Kitchen.

Characters

Dolly West - not a stereotypical 1940's Irish girl, she is educated, traveled and not married. She has returned home from Florence due to the war.

Esther Horgan - Dolly's unhappily married sister, who is like her father.

Justin West - Dolly's volatile nationalistic Irish officer brother.

Rima West - The mother of the house, Rima is a very unconventional and wise woman.

Ned Horgan - Esther's husband

Marco Delavicario - A flamboyantly homosexual American soldier stationed in Derry.

Jamie O'Brien - Marco's Irish-American cousin who is also an American soldier.

Alec Redding - Dolly's former lover from college, and now British soldier stationed in Derry.

Anna Owens - The young housemaid for the West family.

Original Production

The premiere of Dolly West's Kitchen, directed by Patrick Mason, took place on October 6, 1999 in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. The original cast were:

Dolly West - Donna Dent

Esther Horgan - Catherine Byrne

Justin West - Michael Colgan (actor)

Michael Colgan (actor)

Michael Colgan is a Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland-born actor.Born as Michael Hughes, he was educated at Saint Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he read English...

Rima West - Pauline Flanagan

Pauline Flanagan

Pauline Flanagan was a County Sligo, Irish Free State-born actress who had a long career on stage. American television audiences best knew her as Annie Colleary on the soap opera Ryan's Hope....

Ned Horgan - Simon O'Gorman

Marco Delavicario - Perry Laylon Ojeda Perry ojeda

Jamie O'Brien - Harry Carnahan

Alec Redding - Anthony Calf

Anna Owens - Lucianne McEvoy

Awards

2001 Olivier Awards - Nomination - Best New Play

2001 Olivier Awards - Winner (Pauline Flanagan) - Best Supporting Actress