The 'Queen of Ireland' aka Panti Bliss is developing a TV comedy-drama with a New York and London-based production company that will be set in her Dublin bar.
The company, Playground, have optioned the rights to Panti Bliss' memoir Panti: Woman in the Making, which was published in 2014 and tells the story of the life and work of her alter ego Rory O’Neill, including becoming a self-described "accidental activist" in the run up to the Marriage Equality referendum.
"Rory is a genuinely unique voice, and we're excited to be working with his alter-ego Panti Bliss on a series that will bring her provocative perspective on contemporary culture and the unspoken challenges that face the gay community to a mainstream television audience," Variety quote Playground CEO Colin Calendar as saying.
Calendar was a co-producer on the smash hit stage production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and recalled being "utterly captivated" by Panti's TED talk in 2015.
"Watching his TED talk and his remarkable speech at the Abbey Theatre, I was utterly captivated by Rory's ability to use the persona of Panti Bliss to talk about issues of homophobia, acceptance and tolerance in a bold, funny and very personal way that challenges our easy preconceptions," he said.
In Variety https://t.co/64hoJCYkal
— Dr Panti Bliss (@PantiBliss) April 10, 2017
Following the announcement Panti said that she's "pretty excited about this, especially to be working with a company with the stellar reputation of Playground".
Panti is currently touring her hit show, High Heels in Low Places which culminates at The Abbey Theatre on April 30.
The show traces Panti’s journey from small-town country boy in Mayo to becoming the Queen of Ireland. A documentary of the same name, directed by Conor Horgan, was released two years ago to wide acclaim.
