THISISPOPBABY & The Abbey Theatre
Two comedic giants, performance legends, and bona fide national treasures – Tara Flynn and Panti Bliss – went back-to-back with two new solo shows on the Peacock stage at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in late 2022.
Irish Hospice Foundation, along with The Creative Ireland Programme, were tickled pink to support THISISPOPBABY’s gorgeously glamorous plans to rip up the Peacock stage at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in November 2022 with a soaring double bill from two celebrated artists who have both contributed to Ireland’s extraordinary recent social change, and brought down the houses with their smash-hit shows and stories of resilience.
Haunted
by Tara Flynn
What happens when you hit the floor and lose all of your marbles?
Ask Tara Flynn: a fame-adjacent actor turned advocate for the campaign to Repeal Ireland’s 8th amendment. Y’know: Mouthy.
The country voted ‘Yes’ and the whirlwind of publicity and abuse came to an end, and crashing to the floor is where Tara found herself. Down there, she realised the whirlwind had conveniently kept her from dealing with the death of her dad. Nothing for it now but to face it. All of it.
In her father’s long life, he saw Ireland change beyond recognition – hardly anyone smokes in the car anymore! But how much have things really changed? Have we really made any progress since the time of Biddy Early, the wise woman from Clare? Or are familiar stories destined to be re-told and re-told; the past and ourselves practically touching?
This is one woman’s journey back from the floor. A touching, funny tale of grief, campaigning for civil rights, the offline impact of online abuse, crashing to the ground, and fighting to tell your own story.
It’s a story of resilience… and a search for marbles…
“Essential viewing, and a joy to watch.”
– The Irish Times
If These Wigs Could Talk
by Panti Bliss
Over seven years since Pantigate, Ireland’s Marriage Equality Referendum, and the international smash hit High Heels In Low Places, Panti is shaking out her oversized wigs and re-boning her corset to bring her unique brand of ridiculous anecdotes to the Peacock Stage.
If These Wigs Could Talk meets Panti, a drag queen at 53, after a lifetime of showbiz, shenanigans and making a show of herself, taking this moment to question what her purpose and place in the world is now. Via salacious stories, impassioned polemics, some seriously funny soul searching and a few unvarnished truths, Panti takes us from rural Mayo to London’s glittering West End to the Ambassador’s residence in Vienna, where along the way the answer to the question presents itself when she least expects it.
Panti warmly invited us to learn from her mistakes, laugh at her failures, and revel in her triumphs.
“Exquisitely tart-tongued comedy… electrically revealing and masterful.”
– The Irish Times
Both shows were directed by Phillip McMahon, long-time collaborator of both Panti and Tara Flynn and co-director of THISISPOPBABY’s recent smash hit, WAKE.
Age Recommendation: 14+
Running Time: One hour each
Dates staged: 11th November – 3rd December 2022
More info: abbeytheatre.ie
