Winner of the Dublin Theatre Festival Best New Irish Play Award in 1994, The Mai also enjoyed U.S. success at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton.

'Persuasive and provocative . . . discloses a rich poetic landscape, fused with gentle humour, lyrical romanticism and harboured rage.'
                                                                       — Variety

The Sunday Tribune called it 'a triumph . . . deeply affecting, wonderfully provocative and profoundly rewarding'.

'The events of two summers, the conversations and stories of seven women, the history of a family and their broken and cruel love is remembered, recounted and re-lived by The Mai's eldest daughter who fuses past and present, history and lore, into a story as intimate, unique, disturbing, affectionate and recognisable as all family stories.'
               — Jocelyn Clarke