Lunchtime theater at Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin featuring some of Ireland’s top acting talent is ideal for visitors who are looking to tap into Ireland's rich theatrical heritage.
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Bewley’s Café Theatre has been operating since 1999 and is popular among Dubliners and tourists alike.
In fact, the theatrical initiative has an international reputation for both innovation and excellence.
An Irish Times Judges’ Special Award Winner, the repertoire includes everything from classic one-act plays based on the works of Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Sean O’Casey, as well as newer material.
Its 2025 spring/early summer lineup includes the following:
Baby
This 60-minute dark comedy is about two sets of sisters who meet in a Dublin café for a casual get-together, with the conversation turning into anything but.
Baby envy and pretend pregnancies are among the topics explored, as well as fertility clinics and assisted human production.
Baby runs through May 3.
Friends in Berlin
Visitors won't want to miss this lunchtime theater performance.
This show tells the extraordinary story of William Patrick Hitler, the Fuhrer’s Irish nephew. The lesser-known Hitler was the son of Alois Hitler Jr. and Irishwoman Bridget Dowling.
It runs from May 12-May 31.
DUBLINERS Counterparts & A Little Cloud
From June 2 through June 16, visitors can enjoy the first of Bewley's summertime shows, which is being described as an “exquisite, intimate study of Joyce’s Dublin and its lives of quiet desperation.”
June 16th is known as Bloomsday and it's when the city celebrates Joyce and his writings.
Tickets for the above shows are between €10 and €15 each and can be booked online.
While there, they can also marvel at the architecture of this great Dublin landmark, including the beautiful Harry Clarke stained-glass windows.
Performances begin at 1 p.m. and are over by 2 p.m. Soirée shows are also frequently offered.
The History of Bewley's in Ireland
The Bewley name has a long association with Dublin.
The Bewley family, with origins in the Quaker movement, came to the city from Cumberland, England, in the 17th century.
In 1835, Samuel Bewley and his son, Charles, imported over 2,000 chests of tea from China in the hopes that the tea would sell in the Irish market.
That was before tea drinking was a national pastime.
Luckily for the Bewleys, the gamble paid off and helped make the company a household name in Ireland with its formation in 1840.
After selling tea for a number of years, the family expanded into the coffee business, opening cafes on South Great George’s Street in 1894 and another one on Westmoreland Street in 1896.
What would become their flagship store on Grafton Street, where the lunchtime theater performances are held, was opened in 1927 by Ernest Bewley.
The building once housed the Seminary for the Instruction of Youth, where the Duke of Wellington (who served twice as Britain’s prime minister) and Robert Emmett, the Irish nationalist, went to school.
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You’ll find Bewley’s cafes across Ireland as well as in the U.S. and the U.K. under different brand names. Customers in the U.S. can purchase the tea on Amazon.