Static

The challenge is to live in this world, not a new one

A veteran US astronaut is about to land back on Earth after completing his very last space flight. A lonely ham radio operator in Donegal is surfing frequencies in want of some company. This unlikely pair of conversationalists collide with life-altering consequences.

Static is a lyrical, searching play about isolation and the painful contradictions that surface when people try to connect.

Written by Jimmy McAleavey, this edition was published to coincide with the world premiere production directed by John King at the Abbey Theatre in June 2025.

Jimmy McAleavey is the author of numerous stage plays, including: Inventors (Kabosh, 2013), The Queen’s Shilling (Goldin+Senneby 2013), Titans (Kabosh, 2012), Monsters, Dinosaurs (Abbey Theatre, 2011), Get Gaddafi (Tinderbox, 2011), The Sign of the Whale (Tinderbox, 2010), The Joy (and Roy) of Irish (Kabosh, 2010), The Virgin Father (Tinderbox, 2009) and Weirdwolf (Tinderbox, 2008). He has had several radio productions: Hearing Voices (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play, 2011), Wigs on the Green (a six-part series co-written with John Murphy on RTE radio, 2010), Food of the Blue (Radio 4 Afternoon Play, 2009), Moonmen (BBC Radio 3, 2008), The Last Words of Van Helsing (BBC Radio 7, 2007), The Ballad of Shane O’Neill (Radio 4 Afternoon Play, 2006), Cemetery Sunday (Radio 4, 1995). He has written for feature films, written and directed short films, scripted TV drama and produced and directed factual TV.