Tipperary drama group brings Rattigan’s haunting classic The Deep Blue Sea to the stage

Liam Ryan directs a moving revival of Terence Rattigan’s post-war tale of love and loss

Thurles Drama Group will return to the Source Arts Centre next month with Terence Rattigan’s acclaimed post-war drama The Deep Blue Sea. Performances will run from Monday, November 17, to Saturday, November 22, 2025. Tickets are priced at €18 and €14, with a special fundraiser on the opening night at €20.

Under the direction of Liam Ryan, Thurles Drama Group promises a production that captures the quiet intensity and emotional depth of Rattigan’s work. Audiences can expect a thoughtful and compelling exploration of human vulnerability and the will to keep going when all else seems lost.

Rattigan’s play offers a poignant study of love, despair and survival in 1950s Britain. Set in a modest London flat, the story centres on Hester Collyer, the wife of a distinguished High Court judge, who has left her marriage for Freddie Page, a former RAF pilot. As their passionate relationship begins to crumble, Hester faces an agonising choice between the safety of convention and the peril of a love that may destroy her.

Beneath the veneer of post-war civility, Rattigan reveals a world of repressed emotion and private anguish. Over the course of a single day, his characters confront past mistakes, unspoken desires and the limits of endurance.

Terence Rattigan (1911–1977) was one of Britain’s foremost playwrights of the mid-20th century, celebrated for his finely crafted dramas exploring restraint, repression and the cost of emotional honesty. The Deep Blue Sea, first staged at the Duchess Theatre London, on March 6, 1952.

It is regarded as one of his most personal and enduring works. Inspired in part by events from his own life, it remains a masterful portrait of passion and despair, written with Rattigan’s characteristic precision and compassion.

Tickets are available to purchase from The Source Arts Centre Website: Book Tickets