It’s 1941. Europe is at war and espionage is the front line. In Dublin, ‘the Emergency’ is in full swing! As the rest of the world gets on with the small matter of the Second World War, the city’s lights burn flagrantly and Europe’s intellectual elite have come to play. But a radio requests show has drawn the attention of M15 and a diffident young code-breaker is dispatched to Dublin to determine which side neutral Ireland is really on.
Featuring a deliriously comic plot and peopled with real-life characters – including John Betjeman, Myles na gCopaleen, and cat-hating physicist Erwin Schrödinger – Improbable Frequency is a joyous musical satire that lifts the lid on Ireland’s surreal neutrality and cuts to the heart of our tempestuous affair with our nearest neighbour.
Improbable Frequency premiered in the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2004, before successful runs in Edinburgh (2006), National Tour of Ireland (2007), New York (2008) and the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in 2012.
This production was awarded the following at the 2004 Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards;
Winner: Best Production
Winner: Best Director – Lynne Parker
Winner: Best Costumes – Kathy Strachan
Nomination: Best Set Design – Alan Farquharson
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress – Lisa Lambe
Clare Wallace: “The Heel of the Oppressor in a Ferragamo Shoe”. Medium and Message in Improbable Frequency. Published in Beyond Realism: Experimental and Unconventional Irish Drama Since the Revival, 2014
