You have probably heard about the theatre under Busáras, the Dublin bus station. The Eblana Theatre , as it was known, once hosted plays by upcoming dramatists such as John B Keane, Brian Friel, Hugh Leonard and Tom Murphy. Bus Éireann now plans to turn it into a staff training centre, sadly.
But another largely forgotten Dublin theatre may be set for a new chapter. The Rupert Guinness Theatre on Watling Street, Dublin 8 was opened by Guinness in 1951 with Seán O’Casey’s The Shadow of a Gunman as its first play. Guinness spared no expense on the 600-seat theatre, equipping it with a finger-touch-controlled counterweighted system for scene changing and a state-of-the-art lighting system.
The Abbey Theatre even decamped there for a while during the 1950s after its own premises was damaged by a fire. It was rented to the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) as a lecture hall for a spell but hasn’t been used since 2019 and now requires “substantial investment”, according to Guinness owner Diageo. Minister for Arts Catherine Martin recently visited the facility, as well as the Bicentenary Theatre, another Guinness facility that has a gym, squash courts and swimming pool for staff, which is sometimes rented to local schools for swimming lessons.
Following her visit, Martin committed to carrying out a feasibility study to investigate if the State could invest in the facilities to help make them suitable for “long-term community use”, according to records rel.
