Ambrose Keogh works for Shell. When the Tunnel Boring Machine he named Fionnuala sinks into the bog in Mayo, he is magically confronted by Fionnuala, the swan-child of the ancient legend The Children of Lir. Fionnuala puts a geas (spell) on him.
He’s bound to tell what he knows about potentially lethal attacks on local opponents of the Shell Mayo gas project. During his ordeal, Ambrose meets his school classmate Malachy, an anti-pipeline activist, and echoes from the past resound.
Directed by Sorcha Fox
Designed by Robert Ballagh
Supported by the Justice and Human Rights Organisation AFRI.
Reviews
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“Donal O’Kelly is to be commended for a fine piece of political theatre that uses art to inform, educate and, ultimately, to move the audience..There is an extremely strong and vibrant performance at the heart of this.. The actor/writer weaves a compelling and magical tale mixing actualité with fancy.”
-- Dan O'Niell, No More Workhorse.
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“Fionnuala, written and performed by Donal O’Kelly, is not only expertly presented but also informative, brave and hard-hitting.”
-- Ciara Murphy, The Public Reviews.
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“The magnificent O’Kelly – one of Ireland’s most gifted writer-actors – succeeds in telling a story that is not only gripping, funny and full of a rich sense of Ireland’s great tradition of myth and legend, but also ruthlessly precise in its analysis of the deep malaise of 21st-century Ireland”
-- FRINGE FIRST - The Scotsman
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“**** A Ridleyan blend of violence and folklore .. a deliciously exuberant performance”
-- Financial Times
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“Fionnuala cuts a swathe through Shell/State propaganda, allowing audiences to access the truth of what’s happening in North Mayo”
-- Hot Press
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“A masterpiece of modern theatre that assuredly belongs in the tradition of great Irish writing”
-- Three Weeks Edinburgh
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“Entertains as much as it warns, alerts and informs”
-- The Scotsman
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