The Abbey Theatre presents Conor McPherson's celebrated play The Seafarer at the Town Hall Theatre, from Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 June at 8pm. This week Lisa Regan talks to actor George Costigan, who plays the devil, about his role, his dream of working with Jodie Foster and the fact that this is his first time acting in the City of the Tribes!

So how is the play going so far?

Really, really well. It is currently running in Dublin and, as it is set in Dublin, the audience is really loving it. The response has been so fabulous from every nights' audience; they are really enjoying the play and the theatre has been packed every night.

Olivier Award winning playwright Conor McPherson wrote this piece; how has it been for you working with such an up-and-coming playwright?

It has been brilliant. I have had the pleasure of not reading any of his other plays, which is great actually because I really want to see them performed. He is a remarkably driven bloke that is definitely going places.

Tell me a little about how the show has been for you?

It has been wonderful and quite funny actually, as I am an English actor in the middle of it all. The response though from Irish audiences has been remarkable. It is so great performing here, as everything is recognised, all the jokes and humour. The audience is laughing with you throughout the performance.

How did you get involved with the prestigious Abbey Theatre?

Well, I was acting two years ago in a play called Blue Orange. It was an English play and they were looking for English actors, so that is really how I became involved.

Tell me a little about the play?

The play explores the demons in the lives of broken men. The Seafarer is set in a house in a Dublin suburb, where brothers, Sharky and Richard, and a couple of old drinking buddies pass Christmas Eve getting drunk and playing cards. The arrival of a stranger, however, raises the stakes even higher and suddenly it seems that Sharky is playing for his very soul. It is really a group of men sitting around on Christmas Eve who can't deal with anything. Some of them are hammered, some are on their way and one is trying to stay away from the booze. However, then a card game ensues and I will not tell you anymore than that!

Have audiences that have been at the show been mainly women, men or mixed?

That's a good question! It has been completely mixed, but reactions from both sexes have been completely different. It is funny; women who have attended the show laugh whole heartily at all these men on the stage who are hammered. It is kind of a knowing laugh, which makes me laugh. The Seafarer is motored on alcohol but there is no judgement, as no play can moralise like that. But Irish audiences can identify with this.

Does your performance change from night to night?

Well you are always working to your own standards; you can only do the best that you can do. But there will always be your great performances and you will have nights when you're not so good. But that is life, right?