Fishamble: The New Play Company, in association with Solas Nua, presents The Humours of Bandon by Margaret Mc Auliffe

‘Don’t be afraid of that floor, hammer it!’

Annie is a 16-year-old Irish Dancer from Dublin and we meet her on the eve of the biggest competition of her life, the Irish Open Championships 1999. She charts us through the various successes and disappointments of her Irish Dancing life. We share her mind-numbing commitment and burning desire to win the coveted Irish Open title. Will she win and, if so, in what way?

From the confines of every parochial hall in Ireland, Irish Dancing champions are churned out at a massive rate. Medals and cups build up in drawing rooms and Riverdance swells a national pride, but the public aren’t privy to the blood, sweat and tears that pave the way to the first place podium.

A coming-of-age story, THE HUMOURS OF BANDON is an award-winning play, full of heart, humour and wisdom, for anyone who had a childhood passion that threatened to overwhelm their life.

Family Friendly event. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and free for Youth 18 years and under whether you reserve a free youth ticket online or show up at the door. Online ticket sales will end at 3 pm on the day of the show. After that, you may purchase tickets at the door.

WINNER Best Theatre Script at the Writer’s Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Awards
WINNER Little Gem Award at Dublin Fringe Festival
NOMINATED Best Performer at Dublin Fringe Festival

★★★★★‘…a delight… Margaret Mc Auliffe is a star… sit back and enjoy this emotional rollercoaster ride.’ Broadway Baby

★★★★ ‘…witty and warm… Mc Auliffe, like this rather perfectly formed show, is a winner…’ The Times

★★★★‘…wonderful… you must see this show!’ Edinburgh Guide

★★★★‘witty and poignant… told by a performer who has lived and breathed the world she so expertly conveys.’ The Scotsman

★★★★‘terrific one woman show… by turns sharp, charming and hilarious… All round, a champion turn.’ The Irish Times

★★★★‘truly breathtaking… dazzling performance that really needs to be seen to be believed.’ The Reviews Hub

★★★★‘a hilarious and heart warming production that is not to be missed. – TheArtsReview.com

Margaret Mc Auliffe is an actor/writer from Dublin. As an actor she has worked with The Collective, Rough Magic, Collapsing Horse, Fishamble, The Abbey Theatre and many more. Her most recent productions include kitchensinkdrama (The Collective at Dublin Fringe 2022), Much Ado About Nothing (Rough Magic, 2019) and Requiem for the Truth (Collapsing Horse at Bergen Fringe Festival Norway, 2018). As part of the ‘Show in a Bag‘ initiative for the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2016 she wrote, produced and performed her smash hit, one-woman show, The Humours of Bandon. The show won the Bewley’s Little Gem Award and Margaret was nominated as Best Performer at the Dublin Fringe Awards, 2016. Fishamble has since produced and toured The Humours of Bandon both nationally and internationally including at; the Edinburgh Fringe 2017, Brighton Festival, UNOFest Victoria Canada and a multi-venue tour of Wales in 2018 as well as touring to Australia and New York in 2019/2020. As a writer, Margaret won the 2017 ZeBBie award for Best Theatre Script, was a recipient of the Pavilion Theatre’s Patron Artists’ Bursary 2017, a member of the Irish Theatre Institute’s Six in the Attic programme and was selected as part of Fishamble’s A Play for Ireland initiative 2018. In 2020 she was awarded funding towards writing a new play through Fingal County Council. She’s currently in development with Treasure Entertainment on a feature adaptation of The Humours of Bandon with Screen Ireland.

This North American tour is supported by Culture Ireland.  

Fishamble is an Irish theatre company that is passionate about discovering, developing and producing new plays of national importance with a global reach, while championing the role of the playwright.

Developed as part of Show in a Bag – an artist development initiative of Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble: The New Play Company, and Irish Theatre Institute, to resource theatre makers and actors.