Edinburgh International Festival – Gabriel Byrne’s solo show Walking With Ghosts added to the programme

Actor Gabriel Byrne will bring his solo show Walking With Ghosts to the Edinburgh International Festival this summer from 24 to 28 August in a UK premiere.

The performance which is adapted from his 2020 memoir will follow his career from his Dublin childhood to a Hollywood career.

Byrne grew up on the outskirts of Dublin seeking refuge in imaginary stories in the fields and hills near where he lived. Amateur dramatics beckoned when he failed to become a priest and this is a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes which shape destinies.

Directed by three-time Emmy award-winning theatre director Lonny Price (Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Company and Sondheim! The Birthday Concert) Walking with Ghosts’ sell-out run at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin in February 2022 marked Byrne’s first appearance on the Irish stage in 40 years. Following the UK premiere in Edinburgh, the performance transfers to the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, from 6-17 September, presented by Landmark, Neal Street and Playful Productions. The creative team on the production also includes Sinéad McKenna (set and lighting designer), Joan O’Clery (costume designer) and Sinéad Diskin (sound designer).  

Gabriel Byrne said: “I last performed in Edinburgh in a series of Yeats plays directed by Jim Sheridan at the Richard Demarco Gallery. Now, many years later, it’s a real honour to be invited back to Edinburgh to perform Walking with Ghosts at one of the world’s great festivals. It’s particularly special to be in the International Festival programme in its 75th year and also as it returns to full capacity.”

Gabriel Byrne’s career as an actor, writer and director has spanned stage and screen for over 40 years. He has starred in over 80 films including The Usual Suspects, The Man in the Iron Mask, Stigmata, End of Days and In the Name of the Father and has worked with some of the greatest names in Hollywood, from Richard Burton to Laurence Olivier and Vanessa Redgrave. His work on Broadway has seen him win multiple awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe for his role in the television drama In Treatment. 

Walking with Ghosts at the Edinburgh International Festival has only been made possible due to support from Culture Ireland. 

Catherine Martin TD, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media of Ireland said, “I am thrilled to hear that Walking with Ghosts will play at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Having seen Gabriel Byrne’s haunting and funny performance at its opening night in Dublin, I’m delighted that Culture Ireland will help to bring this unique show to an international audience.”

Tickets for Walking with Ghosts are available now at eif.co.uk    

Walking with Ghosts
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh (2 hours, 15 minutes)
24 – 28 August 2022
https://www.eif.co.uk/events/walking-with-ghosts