BOTH SIDES
BY JANE COYLE
Northern Ireland Tour: September 2025
Le Pavé d’Orsay: May & June 2024
Award-winning Irish writer Jane Coyle’s acclaimed play, based on the works of Samuel Beckett, had its first public reading at the Commencez! Beckett Paris festival in 2016.
In the spring of 2024, Alchemy Theatre presented a refreshed version to sold-out audiences in Paris. In autumn 2025, this production will return to Northern Ireland to perform at the Aspects Literary festival, the Heaney HomePlace and Belfast’s Theatre at the Mill. In a Paris café, a young woman observes the street outside. Every passer-by seems to have a troubling story. She has one, too. Is it about to be revealed?
In a bar in Nice, a once glamorous, middle-aged woman reflects on her bohemian past, her turbulent relationships and a loss too painful to bear.
Stella and Estelle. Who are they? How are they connected?
CAST & CREW
CREATIVES
Director - Nathalie Allison
Writer - Jane Coyle
Producers - Nathalie Allison, Hannah Coyle, Anthea Freya Hill, Charlotte Pleasants for Alchemy Theatre
Social media director - Charlotte Pleasants
Assistant director - Ioana Nicolae
CAST
Stella - Hannah Coyle
Estelle - Mia Leahy
Waitress - Claudia Talbot
Praise for both sides
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"The writing is sublime; the characters will break your heart. "
Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
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"An evening spent in Paris and Nice…insightful writing, sensitive performances"
Irish News
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"Two intriguing stories ... shades of Beckett ... the joy of the writing.”
Belfast Times
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"“A clever drama, which operates on two levels ... the stories and sorrow of two women keep our attention.”
Theatre critic Grania McFadden