Juno and the Paycock

Juno and the Paycock description

First performed in Dublin in 1924, Seán O’Casey’s classic drama is back in town at the Gielgud Theatre. The tragic-comedy is led by the star of HBO’s Succession, J Smith-Cameron, who plays Juno, along with Oscar, BAFTA and Olivier Award winner Mark Rylance as ‘Captain’ Jack.

This play is rarely off the stage in Ireland, the middle story in the famous Dublin Trilogy by O’Casey. It has been adapted for TV six times over the past century, with at least 11 radio adaptations, a 1930 Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a 1959 musical starring Shirley Booth and Melvyn Douglas.

The plot is set in the working-class tenements of Dublin in the early 1920s, when the Civil War was raging. Sharp tongued Juno, who wears the trousers in the poverty-stricken Boyle family, does what she can to survive despite a drunken fantasist husband ‘Commander’ Jack and a life of abject poverty. When providence comes knocking, will the family’s luck finally change?

Star-studded talent heads the show

Matthew Warchus (Matilda The Musical) directs this star-studded new production of the Irish classic that’s as funny as it is dark, which hasn’t been seen in the west End since the early 1990s. This is his seventh collaboration with Mark Rylance.

Mark Rylance has been nominated many times and has won many awards including Tonys and BAFTAs. At the 88th Academy Awards he won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies. He’s one of eight actors to win the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play twice and one of six to enjoy nominations for two acting categories in the same year.

J Smith-Cameron spent most of her career on stage, making her Broadway debut in 1982’s Crimes of the Heart. She won a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Our Country's Good in 1989 and was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for Seán O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock in 2014. This is her UK debut.

The creative team comprises Rob Howell (Set and Costume Designer), Hugh Vanstone (Lighting Designer), Claire van Kampen (Composer) and Serena Hill CDG (Casting Director), and the show is Produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.

Playing at Gielgud Theatre (venue info)