The Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down

Since its first production in 2010 The Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down has been a phenomenally popular fixture in Ireland’s theatrical calendar.

Imagine being stranded with the legendary Joe Dolan in a rural pub in Cavan on the night his car breaks down.  That’s just the sort of fantasy scenario that’s imagined in The Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down a play written and directed by Padraic McIntyre.

On a stormy St Stephen’s Night people wait in The Glenaduff Inn to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of The Horse Munley. Some hours later a knock on the door heralds new drama, but the following morning lines blur between what actually happened and what has been imagined or wished for.

With laser sharp accuracy and a perfectly tuned ear Padraic McIntyre untangles a surprising web of relationships in recent rural Ireland. In a way reminiscent of John B Keane half a century ago he has developed an audience outside the mainstream theatre. More than forty thousand people have responded and continue to return to this hilarious play.