A rap about racism, corruption, repression and political amnesia is opening at Andrew's Lane Theatre. Rap ╔ire promises to have us laughing in the aisles.
Backstage, the stars are preparing to meet their public. Comic writers Des Bishop and Arthur Riordan (who is already morphing into de Valera in a black Crombie and top hat) get into the groove. Watch out for Joe Hanley, another member of the cast, who features in the upcoming film, How Harry Became a Tree.
Out front, Ali Curran, director of the Dublin Fringe Festival (who takes up her new post as director of the Peacock Theatre next spring), with actor Lalor Roddy's children, twins Maya McCracken and Robert McCracken (9) from Belfast, wait for the show to begin. "Do you like soul?" its director, Jimmy Fay, asks them, telling them to expect plenty of music. "I like Nirvana," says Robert, with great certainty. Well, rap is rock, sort of.
Richard Cook, of Bickerstaffe Theatre Company, which produces the show, dashes in. His wife, actress and writer, Pauline McLynn, is due in from Belfast, where she's recording a series of radio plays. Cook is off to Edinburgh next month with US comedian Dom Irrera, who has been coming to the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny (of which Cook is director) since 1996. Irrera is currently making a sitcom series with his friend Bruce Willis. After that, it's a wrap.