The Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche by Thomas Kilroy was rejected by the Abbey Theatre but was the controversial ‘hit’ of the 1968 Dublin Theatre Festival. It enjoyed further success in London, on radio and television and in translation.
‘The arrival of the enigmatic homosexual Mr Roche into an all-night, male drinking session leads to brutal violence and a surreal coup de theatre. But the play centers upon the sad bachelor, Kelly, and the inner journey which he has to make into his own sexuality under the shadow of Mr Roche. [The Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche is] a seminal play of the Irish theatre of the Sixties, it is also the drama which announced a brave, restless and probing gift and established the reputation of a presence treasured in Irish writing. ‘A savage and compassionate picture of wasted lives. This is a piece which transcends the Dublin that is its flesh and bone; its melancholy theme is shot through with wild humour and many a sudden imaginative flash.’ — J W Lambert, Sunday Times
