TOURS: Dublin / Meath / Wicklow / Laois / Waterford: 13 April – 9 May, 2026
Verdant Productions team up with playwright Colin Murphy for his new play, Miasma. This gripping one-hour detective story is about the fight against the cholera pandemic in 1840s–50s ‘Charles Dickens’ era’ London. It follows the pioneering outsider doctor John Snow as he challenges medical orthodoxy and lays the foundations of modern epidemiology and data science.
★★★★ The Irish Times
★★★★ The Arts Review
CAST: Jack Gavin / Niamh McGrath / Robbie O’Connor / Karl Quinn / Peter Rothwell
CREATIVE TEAM:
Written by: Colin Murphy
Director by: Samantha Cade
Sound Design & Composition:
Carl Kennedy
Lighting Design: Viko Nikci
Costume Design: Sorcha Ní Fhlionn
Photography by Carol Cummins
VENUES:
Royal College of Physicians, Dublin: Monday 13 to Thursday 16 April
Booking here: Gr8 Events | Home
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Trinity College Fri 17th April at The Old Anatomy Theatre, Chemistry Bldg, TCD
Booking here: Gr8 Events | Home
Tickets available on the door for each performance
Directions: https://www.tcd.ie/Maps/map.php?b=74
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Larkin Community College:
Mon 20th April
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Sean O’Casey Theatre, East Wall:
Tues 21st April
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Research Ireland: Thursday 23 April
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Town Hall Bray: Thursday 23 April
in conjunction with Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
Booking here: Miasma by Colin Murphy
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Humanarium at RCSI: Friday 24th April: Booking at: Gr8 Events | Home
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James Joyce Centre, Dublin:
Tues 28th & Thurs 30th April
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Dunamaise Arts Centre. Portlaoise: Wednesday 29th April
Booking at: Miasma
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Garter Lane Theatre, Waterford:
Saturday 2nd May – Booking at: MIASMA
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Trap Door Theatre at UCD:
Tuesday 5th May
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The Venue, Ratoath: Wed 6th May
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Tallaght Hospital, Dublin:
in conjunction with Civic Theatre
Thursday 7th May – Booking at: Shows
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Royal Irish Academy, Dublin:
Friday 8th May: Booking at: Gr8 Events | Home
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Running Time: 60 mins approx.
Age: 14+ yrs
Colin Murphy’s gripping new play is a medical detective story tackling themes of trust in science, groupthink, and political corruption.
Verdant Productions team up with playwright Colin Murphy for his new play, Miasma. This gripping one-hour detective story is about the fight against the cholera pandemic in 1840s–50s ‘Charles Dickens era’ London. It follows the pioneering outsider doctor John Snow as he challenges medical orthodoxy and lays the foundations of modern epidemiology and data science.
Murphy’s medical detective story illuminates key challenges still at the heart of science and public health today, such as “bad science”, groupthink and dissent, and the tensions between public health and personal rights.
Miasma is a rare opportunity to experience a theatrical event that is intellectually rigorous, emotionally compelling and deeply relevant to contemporary conversations around public health, evidence-based decision-making and trust in science.
In this age of conspiracy theories, misinformation and algorithmic outrage, how do we know when to “trust the science” – and when to trust the scientists?
Directed by Samantha Cade, who has worked extensively in stage and TV/film, the play spotlights themes of particular relevance to third-level students of medicine, science, social science and history. It combines sharp storytelling, historical insight and contemporary relevance in a format that is engaging for specialist and non-specialist audiences alike.
Miasma is going on an unprecedented tour of medical institutions, giving its audience an encounter not just with the play, but with venues that are rarely open to the public – including Royal College of Physicians, Royal Irish Academy, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Tallaght University Hospital.
This unique collaboration is funded by Research Ireland and derives from a pioneering European Research Council project at UCD’s Centre for Cultural Analytics and Insight Centre for Data Analytics (see further detail below). Many shows will be followed by a post-show discussion with experts on the issues at stake.
Told in a fast-paced, comic format by five esteemed Irish actors, the cast in the show is a team of exciting young and established actors that includes: Jack Gavin, Harry Wild (Nick Spillane), Prosperity (Georgie Jnr), Little Women (BBC), and in Macbeth at Smock Alley Theatre; Niamh McGrath, known for her one-woman show, GomBean, her roles in Obituary (RTÉ/Hulu), and for the touring play, Alone It Stands, and who specializes in theatre, comedy, and children’s puppetry; Robbie O’Connor, known for his stage roles in The Lost O’Casey (Abbey Theatre), The Red Shoes (Gate Theatre) and TV roles in Hidden (BBC) and RTE’s Fair City; Dublin-based Irish actor, writer, and theatre maker, Karl Quinn, known for roles in Holding (2022), The Lovers (2023), and Fair City; and Peter Rothwell, known for his roles in TV movies and series like Christmas in Notting Hill (2023), Harry Wild (2022), and Royal Rendezvous.
The Miasma project is funded by the Research Ireland Discover Programme (grant number 24/DP/13227). It forms part of the ERC VICTEUR project (www.projectvicteur.com) that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 884951) and the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics (grant number 12/RC/2289_P2).
Research Ireland is the national research and innovation development agency.
About the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics
The Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics is one of Europe’s largest data analytics research organisations, with over 450 researchers, more than 80 industry partners and €150+ million in funding. Its research spans Fundamentals of Data Science, Sensing and Actuation, Scaling Algorithms, Model Building, Multi-Modal Analysis, Data Engineering and Governance, Decision Making and Trustworthy AI. Insight is made up of four host institutions at DCU, University of Galway, UCC and UCD. Insight’s partner sites are Maynooth University, Tyndall National Institute, Trinity College Dublin and University of Limerick. www.insight-centre.org
About the VICTEUR project
VICTEUR: European Migrants in the British Imagination: Victorian and Neo-Victorian Culture is a five-year project funded by an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 884951). The project focuses on the long history of migration and dynamic cultural exchange. It brings together researchers from UCD Centre for Cultural Analytics and the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics, who have created a new searchable digital platform (Curatr) for the British Library Nineteenth Century Corpus. https://projectvicteur.com/
Post show Panels:
Tuesday 14th April: after the 6pm performance
Panel: Phillip Nolan, Colin Murphy, Sarah Burke, Noel O’Connor, Mary Codd, and Sarah Carey
Thursday 16th April: after the 6pm performance
Panel: Oluwaseun Williams, Maire O’Higgins, Colin Murphy, and Alison O’Connor.
Photo by Conor Ó’Mearáin
