Cowboys, rural landscapes and women with agency grace the stage in director Claire Tighe’s modern take on the American classicOklahoma! at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Nick BradshawJohn O'ConnorSat Jun 27 2026 - 06:00 • 2 MIN READWhen the musical Oklahoma! premiered on Broadway in 1943, it was all plywood wagons, prairie yearning and cowboys firing off jokes and guns. Although there is still a plywood wagon at the corner of the stage, a love triangle in the wild landscape of the US southwest and loud guns and wisecracks, in her production at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin Claire Tighe has created an Oklahoma! for today. Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the American frontier, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical follows the rivalry between a charismatic cowboy, Curley McClain, and his menacing farmhand, Jud Fry, to marry Laurey Williams. Tighe had an idea in her head of what the musical was, and had her reservations. But on closer reading of the script, she realised there was more to it. “The women actually do have agency,” Tighe previously told The Irish Times. “The challenge for them is to pick the right partner: who will help them survive in this harsh land?”The Bord Gáis stage is transformed into a rural early 20th century ranch, with the set designed by Ciarán Bagnall. An ominous and omnipresent tilted cyclorama resembling the sun looks down at the scene; shedding an unforgiving light on the dark deeds that Tighe wants to highlight in her own contemporary way. The soundtrack includes renowned songs such Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, I Cain’t Say No, and the Oklahoma! theme song. Oklahoma! runs at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin until July 5th. Backstage at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for Oklahoma!. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Oklahoma! at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Oklahoma! pre-show warm-up. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Oklahoma! at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Oklahoma! at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Oklahoma! backstage: Molly Lynch, who plays Laurey Williams. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw