Arcadia Ireland

This blog was written by Fiona Kavanagh. This week the Summer Session 2 students settled into Dublin and saw the show ‘Two Pints’ at the Abbey Theater. Two Pints isn’t exactly traditional theater as it consists of very few characters: two chatty men in their 60s and one bartender who remains silent throughout. The two men sit at a bar which remains the scenery throughout the show. They drink pints, and they talk. 

They talk about life and are unapologetically Irish in their attitudes, slang, and perspectives on the world. One character began the show by explaining his serious distaste for the popular ‘joggers’ or tracksuit bottoms many young people wear around Ireland, continuously calling them ‘pajamas’. This immediately signaled an important difference among older and younger Irish populations, a theme which often arose throughout the show--even when the men pulled out their smartphones to text their wives (only after putting on their reading glasses, of course).

The show gave students an inside perspective on what goes on at Irish pubs and in the minds of the Irish. The Irish ability to cope with struggle and pain through humor made for a show full of laughs. Two Irish men from lower-class demographics described the unfairness of Ireland’s class system but changed tones to express that they wouldn’t want to be anyone other than who they are. A sense of Irish pride (and a dislike for English people) remained prevalent throughout.

The two men initially started the ‘show’ in smaller pubs around Ireland, and as word spread and they became more popular, Two Pints grew. They even toured around parts of Europe and America and are now performing in one of Dublin’s most renowned theaters. More info on the show and its making can be found here. Whether Irish or not, this show allowed for an insiders view on Irish perspectives about life. Writing this from the perspective of someone who knows quite a bit about the ongoings of Irish pubs, I can say with confidence that Two Pints perfectly communicates the importance of chatting among friends over pints in Irish culture.