Genevieve Hulme Beaman, Anita Reeves, Neili Conroy – Photo by Dermot Kelly

Back by popular demand this award winning show is continuing its national and international tour.  (see below for tour dates and venues)
“…as hilarious as it is poignant” – THE SUNDAY TIMES
“…intimately told and beautifully acted” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
“ ***** …a tiny treasure…” –  TIME OUT, LONDON
“…impressive” – SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

2011 TOUR INFORMATION
10th-16th February - Civic Theatre

22nd-26th February - Riverside Theatre,  Paramatta (Australia)

1st-5th March – Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre

11th-12th March - Theatre Royal, Hobart

15th-19th March – Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney

4th-9th April - Olympia Theatre, Dublin (Tickets on sale soon.)

 
Love, sex, birth, death, dildos and salsa classes: Little Gem sees three generations of Dublin women on a wild and constantly surprising journey.
After sell-out seasons in New York, London and Paris and a sold-out 7-week run at Ireland’s National Theatre and a run at the Olympia (with MCD), Gúna Nua and Civic Theatre are bringing their bittersweet comedyLittle Gem on a countrywide tour.
Gúna Nua director and founder Paul Meade first read Elaine Murphy’sLittle Gem in 2008 and promptly staged and directed the impressive debut in the Dublin Fringe Festival where it won several awards and went on to great acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009.
Kay’s got an itch that Gem can’t scratch (but maybe Kermit can) … Lorraine attacks a customer at work and her boss wants her to see a psychiatrist … Amber has fierce bad indigestion and the sambucas aren’t getting rid of it. And then there’s Paul, the bollix, who is just using Amber until he can get to Australia … and there’s the hairy man who fancies Lorraine but fails to rise to the occasion … and of course Gem , who doesn’t like the neighbours coming in to ‘mind’ him. If all that wasn’t bad enough, Little Gem makes his presence felt and life is never the same again.
Under the direction of Paul Meade, the cast interweave their characters’ life experiences as they cope with modern life’s daily pressures and the heart-breaking toll of inevitable tragedies, expertly blending slapstick humour and sharp comic timing with strength, courage and honesty.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
LITTLE GEM premiered at the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival and it was an immediate sell out success. It received the Dublin Fringe Festival/Fishamble Best New Play and Best Female Performance Awards (awarded to the entire Cast) and was subsequently nominated for Best Play and Best Actress  (Anita Reeves) at the Irish Times Theatre Awards. Little Gem was subsequently awarded the BBC Northern Ireland Drama Award (Stewart Parker Trust Annual Awards). It premiered in the UK at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2009. The show sold out early in the run and was awarded the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. On returning to Dublin it won the Best Theatre Script awarded by the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. The show premiered in the US at The Flea Theatre, New York on January 5th 2010 as part of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. The show then opened in the Peacock on January 19th and was sold out within two weeks. In march, 2010 the show opened at the Bush Theatre in London where it ran for 7 weeks before touring to Paris and back to Ireland for a 2-week run at the Everyman Palace in Cork. After its run at The Olympia the play will tour Ireland and the UK before heading down under for a 2-month tour of Australia.