The Former Eblana Theatre Beneath Busáras to Become Conference Space

Dublin’s central bus station, Busáras, hides an unexpected piece of cultural history beneath its concourse.

In its basement sits the former Eblana Theatre, a venue that operated from 1959 until 1995 and, in later years, was often spoken of as a ready-made nightclub space. Now, the long-dormant theatre is set to be redeveloped to provide meeting and conferencing facilities.

Originally conceived as a small newsreel cinema to entertain waiting bus passengers, the space served that purpose for just two years. In 1958, actress Phyllis Ryan took over the lease and, with collaborators including Des Nealon, transformed it into a fully fledged theatre and the home of her company, Gemini Productions. The Eblana Theatre officially opened during the 1959 Dublin Theatre Festival.

Busáras itself is recognised as one of the first modern buildings in Dublin and indeed Europe, to consciously integrate art and architecture, making the theatre an integral part of a landmark cultural and architectural vision.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Phyllis Ryan became the leading producer of new plays in Ireland outside the Abbey Theatre. Through Gemini Productions, she sustained independent theatre in Dublin and premiered much of the work of playwright John B. Keane. Writers nurtured by the company, including Brian Friel, Joe O’Donnell, Hugh Leonard and Tom Murphy, would later be staged by the Abbey and other major theatres, but their early productions owed much to Ryan’s ambition and determination.

Gemini Productions moved out in the mid-1980s. In the mid-1990s, the venue was run for a short period by Andrews Lane Theatre, the same operators behind the Andrews Lane venue later known as Hangar, before being leased to the Northside Theatre Company. It closed definitively in 1995.

At a time when the city is calling out for accessible public arts spaces and cultural venues continue to shutter, it feels difficult to comprehend that a theatre in the very centre of Dublin is being renovated not for culture, but to house conference rooms.