Happiness Then by Elizabeth Moynihan at Garter Lane

What to Expect

Happiness Then plays Garter Lane Theatre for one night on Friday 23 October 2026. Elizabeth Moynihan’s comedy drama puts two sisters, Bridget and Frances, back in the same room after their mother’s death, and lets them fight about everything within reach, from the wine to the inheritance. Underneath the sniping the play works through the loves and losses that pulled the pair apart in the first place, and what is left of the relationship now that the person who held them together is gone.

The writing is sharp rather than sentimental, with the venue pointing to acerbic wit and delicious put downs as the engine of the piece. Rachael Dowling and Sorcha Furlong play the sisters. The production comes from Bernie Bourke and Liam Halligan, presented as a Bewley’s Cafe Theatre production in association with Once Off Productions, a lineage that has sent a steady run of tightly made two-handers around Irish venues. Tickets are €22 plus booking fee.

Good to Know

• Date: Friday 23 October 2026, 8:00 PM start
• Venue: Garter Lane Theatre, O’Connell Street, Waterford city
• Tickets: €22 plus booking fee, through the Garter Lane website or box office
• Written by Elizabeth Moynihan
• Cast: Rachael Dowling and Sorcha Furlong
• A Bewley’s Cafe Theatre production with Once Off Productions
• One performance only

Getting There

Garter Lane Theatre is on O’Connell Street in Waterford city centre, a short walk from the Quay and the main city centre bus stops. Drivers approach on the M9 from Dublin or the N25 from Cork and Wexford, with multi-storey and on-street parking within a few minutes. Plunkett Station, the city’s rail and Bus Eireann terminus, is on the north bank of the Suir, roughly a fifteen minute walk over Rice Bridge.