The premiere of a humorous musical about Oliver Cromwell is set to premiere at the Dublin Fringe Festival later this month.
The production, entitled ‘Oliver Cromwell is really very sorry’ was written by and stars Anthony Keigher. The play follows five Irish LGBTQ friends who set off on a quest to find Oliver Cromwell’s severed head, which is believed to be buried in a biscuit tin near Cambridge.
Anthony explains that the group’s confrontation with Cromwell for his past crimes serves as enjoyable revisionism for an Irish audience. The play, which received funding from the Arts Council of Ireland, was previously shown to small audiences in the UK but will now have its Irish debut.
He told Dublin Live: “Oliver is brought back to life and there’s this tension between him and the Irish cast, as he’s constantly trying to take ownership of the story. The show is partially my response to living in the UK for the past 10 years. We’ve seen it go from the Olympic Games in 2012 to this decaying democratic state where nothing really works. “
The play features numerous musical performances but although it takes on a light-hearted tone, Anthony says audiences will be surprised at the attention paid to historical accuracy in the performance. Several surprising anecdotes in the play, including Cromwell’s fledgling career as an actor and his obsession with astrology, are all factually accurate.
Additionally, the play also sheds light on cancel culture. Anthony wanted crowds to be able to draw comparisons between Cromwell’s behaviour and that of modern day leaders as the character repeatedly tries to justify his behaviour throughout the performance.
He is excited to bring the production to Dublin this month and believes having the name Cromwell feature in the title is central to the curiosity surrounding the play. He says virtually all Irish people have the same reaction when the name ‘Cromwell’ is mentioned and hopes this will fuel people’s interest.
Anthony adds: “I remember telling one of the accountants in the arts organisation the title and she blessed herself. His name brings so much anger and venom. Once I had ‘Cromwell’ in the title it became very easy to sell it to people.”
The stage designer of the celebrated West End production “Six the Musical”, which previously ran in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, is also working behind the scenes on the musical.
“Oliver Cromwell is really very sorry” will run as part of the Fringe Festival from the 21 st -24 th September in the Project Arts Venue. Tickets are available through fringefest.com.
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