Synopsis

A rural Irish village haunted by the ghosts of the past, where the Belmont River flows dark and dangerous.

Portia Coughlan, a troubled woman on the cusp of her 30th birthday, is tormented by the memory of her twin brother Gabriel, who drowned in the Belmont River 15 years ago. Trapped in an unhappy marriage and drawn to alcohol and affairs, Portia struggles to reconcile her longing for her dead twin with the demands of her present life. As her birthday approaches, the siren call of the river grows stronger, pulling Portia towards a fateful reunion with her brother.

Carr’s play weaves a lyrical, haunting tale that blends Irish folklore with raw, contemporary emotion. The non-linear structure mirrors Portia’s fractured psyche, jumping between past and present as memories and ghosts intrude on reality. Through poetic, often coarse dialogue, Carr explores themes of twinship, inherited trauma, and the suffocating nature of rural Irish life. The Belmont River serves as a powerful symbol of both death and rebirth, reflecting the play’s preoccupation with the thin line between the world of the living and the dead. “Portia Coughlan” is a searing examination of grief, identity, and the destructive power of unfulfilled longing.