Review: Consumed by Karis Kelly | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 - Paines Plough
- Lisa in the theatre
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 4
Karis Kelly’s play Consumed, directed by Katie Posner, receives its world premiere on the Traverse stage this August, in a Paines Plough, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Sheffield Theatres, Women's Prize for Playwriting co-production, in association with the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.
Consumed plays at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from 31 July - 24 August 2025 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Travfest25.
Consumed by Karis Kelly (play) ★★★★★
review: 03 August 2025 | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
An ordinary kitchen in an ordinary Belfast home. Quiet, waiting.
Then Eileen (Julia Dearden), Jenny (Caoimhe Farren), Gilly (Andrea Irvine) and Muieann (Muireann Ni Fhaogain) reluctantly arrive at the table - four generations of Northern Irish women, reunited for a 90th birthday party.
What follows is a scorching 70 minute play full of pitch-black comedy and razor-sharp dialogue. Oh how families can be so cruel to one another. But the insults that fly between these headstrong ladies burn with authenticity.
Karis Kelly's book is breathtaking; I was unsurprised to read that this won the Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2022. Paines Plough productions are consistently excellent, but Consumed literally made me gasp out loud. It has been a long time since a play has gripped or shocked me so.
As the four woman settle down to dinner, their conversations cover everything from their dietary preferences, to the men in their lives. Throw-away comments turn to blazing battles as the generations quarrel over religious beliefs, national boundaries and identity.
It's an exquisite piece of perceptive writing, deftly directed by Katie Posner, and performed with impeccable skill and impressive comic timing by the four outstanding actors. Each character perfectly represents the women of that generation, and their conflicting ideologies provoke one another deliciously. It's like the best fly-on-a-wall peek into your neighbours home as their family secrets are revealed and their decorum shatters.
Hilariously funny but with tension and twists galore, Consumed is a thrilling exploration of generational trauma and the darkest birthday party you will ever attend. Sublime ★★★★★
Consumed (play), Edinburgh 2025 dates:
World Premiere
Consumed
A Paines Plough, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Sheffield Theatres, Women's Prize for Playwriting co-production, in association with Lyric Theatre Belfast
Written by Karis Kelly, directed by Katie Posner
Traverse 1, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
31 July - 24 August (not 1, 4, 11 or 18) (various times)
Previews at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, from 25 – 26 July before its premiere at the Traverse.
Tours to Belgrade Theatre again in September, then Leeds Playhouse, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford and Sheffield Theatres. Full details: https://painesplough.com/productions/consumed/
Consumed Cast - Edinburgh 2025
Eileen Julia Dearden
Jenny Caoimhe Farren
Gilly Andrea Irvine
Muieann Muireann Ni Fhaogain
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