Benbo Productions presents Ailliliú Fionnuala,
written and performed by Donal O’Kelly,
directed by Sorcha Fox, designed by Robert Ballagh.
In Theatre Upstairs @ Lanigans’ Bar, Eden Quay, Dublin 1
1pm Mon-Sat, 5th November – 17th November. (50 mins duration)
Tickets: €10 (€8 Student concession), with soup and bread. Booking: Tel 085 7727375 or emailtheatreupstairs@gmail.com
Ailliliú Fionnuala takes place on the shore of
Sruwaddaconn Estuary in Erris, North Mayo, where the Shell
high-pressure raw gas pipeline is under construction.
Ambrose
Keogh works for Shell. When the Tunnel Boring Machine he named
Fionnuala sinks into the bog, he comes face to face with Fionnuala of
the Children of Lir herself in a fairy fort. Fionnuala puts a geas on
him – he’s bound to tell the truth about Shell’s operations in Erris,
such as the attack on Willie Corduff in the Shell site at Glengad.
Ambrose Keogh is joined in this ordeal by his
primary school classmate, Malachy Downes, now an anti-pipeline
campaigner. They are pushed to reveal truths about how the holders of
power operate in Ireland, behind closed doors, with no regard for civil
rights of citizens, then and now.
Ambrose Keogh was the silent underling in Donal
O’Kelly’s international success Bat The Father Rabbit The Son,
premiered by Rough Magic in 1988, later touring to acclaim in
Edinburgh, New York and Australia. A generation later, Keogh’s found
his voice, but what else has changed?
A writer and actor, this is Donal O’Kelly’s sixth
solo play, following Rabbit, Bat The Father Rabbit The Son, Catalpa,
Jimmy Joyced! and Running Beast. Other plays include The Cambria, Jimmy
Gralton’s Dancehall, The Adventures Of The Wet Señor, Vive La,
Operation Easter, The Hand, Judas Of The Gallarus, Asylum! Asylum! and
The Dogs.
Donal is glad to perform this play about Rossport,
too often seen as remote and therefore peripheral, in the most central
theatre in Dublin – Theatre Upstairs on Eden Quay.
The
foyer will accommodate a photographic exhibition of events connected
with the Shell Corrib gas pipeline and an information stand.
Further Info: benboproductions@gmail.com. Supported by the justice and human rights organisation Afri.
