The sight of a well-built GAA player writhing in a small pair of satin pants while enjoying a bag of Tayto was one of the many highlights of Dublin Fringe Festival's RIOT show which is coming back for a limited run at Vicar Street, Dublin, in July.
The award-winning show in the Speigeltent starred Panti (The Queen of Ireland), playwright Emmet Kirwan (Dublin Oldschool and Heartbreak) and the inimitable talents of madser contortionists Lords of Strut. Combining spoken word, jigs, slapstick comedy and banging tunes, the show is a heady mix of pop and politics that left audiences reeling. (In a good way).
Here’s what our reviewer Peter Crawley had to say about the show in his review:
Can a great night out also count as a political act? That’s the idea behind THISISPOPBABY’s sensational carnival, easily the most exhilarating spectacle on the Fringe, which folds social consciousness into entertainments both flashy and trashy. Emerald-cowled figures sing Irish airs, just as Emmet Kirwan delivers a blistering spoken-word buzz on the state of the nation and imagination. Driven by rebellious passion, Kirwan’s flow is dazzling (when he rhymes, you don’t draw breath), supplying both the wattage and conscience to Phillip McMahon and Jenny Jennings’s meticulously composed cabaret.
It would be sacrilege to say Panti, our MC, plays second fiddle; but slowed by an orthopaedic cast, it turns out she can put a foot wrong. Elsewhere, acts weave and clash as rivetingly as Alma Kelliher’s live music: Ronan Brady’s suggestive acrobatics over a Michael Harding monologue (it works!), Lords of Strut’s giddying contortions, the dopamine rush of the Up & Over It duo’s dancing. You rebel against any whiff of fakery, though, and despite its intentions, RIOT’s mantra treats Uprising like a feel-good consumer product. Otherwise, it’s an indulgence: You can have your revolution and eat it.
Tickets for the Vicar Street shows (July 6th-8th, €25) go on sale on Friday February 24th through Ticketmaster and usual outlets nationwide. For exclusive priority access to the best tickets, 24 hours in advance of general release, sign up now on thisispopbaby.com.
