'There's a saying, you have to be invited to a wedding, but anyone can go to a wake...' THISISPOPBABY co-founder Philly McMahon celebrates the return of the company's hit show WAKE, which runs at the National Stadium this March.
I've been to some amazing parties in my life. I’ve raved at Berghain in Berlin, bopped on Brighton Beach with a quarter of a million to Fatboy Slim and danced on the streets of Sydney at their world famous Mardi Gras. But all pale in comparison to the occasional belter here at home - the wake.
The Irish Wake is this gorgeous liminal space, an urgent celebration of being alive, where the heart is prized open, the soul is stirred, and laughter and tears live side by side. All of which sounded like our kinda show. And so an idea for a new stage spectacle was born.
At THISISPOPBABY, we make shows. And we don't just make shows, we make SHOWS. Sweat, guts and glitter - and that’s just the Irish dancing! At a time in our country when culture is being reduced, we are going bigger. At a time when Dublin feels like it’s closing down, we are setting the city ablaze. With lights, haze, a dance beat and the best performers on this island, we are bringing this amazing town back to life.
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Listen: Philly McMahon talks to Ray D'Arcy
Jenny Jennings (my co-director and co-conspirator) and I have spent decades watching amazing genre defying shows overseas; circus in Toronto, variety in Melbourne, dance extravaganza in Paris; and we've always said, we have to be able to produce these high octane world class shows in Dublin. And so we did. WAKE is spectacle theatre. The kind of event that defies categorisation and exceeds expectation. It’s a cultural mash up; a heady cocktail of trad instruments, live band, Irish tap, fierce spoken word, outrageous cabaret, jaw dropping aerial and big production numbers. It’s foot stomping, heart pounding, hands-in-the-air fun. We’ve poured our passion into making it, and the performers leave everything on that stage each night.
WAKE is also an invitation to come together. In these times of division and isolation, it’s a reminder of the power of theatre, of live events. To be in big rooms with fellow citizens, friends, loved ones. To enjoy a night out together, to share joy, to have blazing craic with a theatre full of like minded folk. To laugh, breathe, roar, cry, together. That’s the Irish wake - demanding we get together, live.
We made this show over a number of years, collecting fabulous cast members as we went. You could call them the 'best', but that would suggest they are in competition. Each is too unique, too special, too fabulous, to warrant comparison. From pole and aerial champions to vogueing Irish dance superstars - each act surprises and thrills in WAKE. Every day working with this troupe is utter joy.
And so we land back at the National Stadium from March 6-23.
There's a saying, you have to be invited to a wedding, but anyone can go to a wake. But on this occasion, consider this a personal invitation.
THISISPOPBABY’s WAKE runs at the National Stadium Dublin from March 6-23 - find out more here.
