The Abbey Theatre in Dublin has today announced its 2012 season, spanning the period from January until September.

The new season begins with a revival of Bernard Farrell’s entertaining book club comedy, Bookworms, in February. This will be followed in April by the world premiere of a new musical, Alice in Funderland; devised by THISISPOPBABY, the production takes the form of a Dublin transposition of Lewis Caroll’s story in which an Irish Alice goes on an adventure through the city after the dark. In June 2012 the Abbey will then stage the first ever revival of Tom Murphy’s allegorical play, The House, since its world premiere in 2000. The season concludes with another opportunity to see the Abbey’s acclaimed 2010 production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.

On the Peacock stage, the theatre will present a season of new writing including I (Heart) Alice (Heart) I,  written and directed by Amy Conroy,  a participant in the Abbey’s New Playwrights Programme 2011. This will be followed by Fishamble’s production of Silent, a new play written and performed by actor Pat Kinevane.

The Dublin Dance Festival will also return to the Abbey Theatre in 2012 with a programme that includes the Irish debut of Trisha Brown Dance Company.

The Abbey Theatre’s current production is an inventive version of Gogol’s The Government Inspector in a translation by Roddy Doyle.

For tickets and further information on the new season, visit the Abbey Theatre website.