Ailliliú Fionnuala

dublin | arts and media | press release Tuesday October 30, 2012 13:33 by Afri

A Play about the Corrib Gas Project, County Mayo

Benbo Productions presents Ailliliú Fionnuala, a play about the Corrib Gas Project, 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)

Donal O'Kelly performing in Ailliliú Fionnuala

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.

For more details go to the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/453610148013600/

Tickets: €10 (€8 Student concession), with soup and bread.
Booking: Tel 085 7727375 or email theatreupstairs@gmail.com

Further Info: benboproductions@gmail.com. Supported by the justice and human rights organisation Afri.