Professional wrestling – you know the kind, Hulk Hogan, Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin – gets a bad rap sometimes for its flamboyant theatrics and cheesy dramatics.
But theatrics and dramatics, however cheesy and flamboyant, are exactly what makes this discipline so appealing to stage actor and theatre director, Aonghus Óg McAnally.
“For me, it’s one of the purest forms of theatre; in its simplest terms it’s a battle between good and evil. And what’s the essence of great drama if not conflict?”
On Tuesday night’s Arena, Aonghus Óg articulated exactly why professional wrestling is not just an art form, but an art form that is hugely underrated and deserving of our utmost respect.
And, as the son of an accomplished musician and performer, the grandson of one of Ireland’s most iconic stars of stage and screen, Aonghus Óg, in fairness to him, has the pedigree to appreciate a fine performance when he sees one.
“Pro wrestling is theatre distilled down into its essential building blocks. It takes the magic of sport, where anything can happen and fuses it with the skill of the scriptwriter, to ensure it actually does….. Imagine the thrill of a Conor McGregor fight, mixed with the acrobatics of Cirque du Sloeil, the comedy of the Rubberbandits and the fabulousness of PantiBliss and you’re about halfway to what pro-wrestling can give you.”
Take a listen to his two-minute monologue…. and approach with an open mind!
Listen back to the full interview with Aonghus Óg on Arena here.
And if you’d like to see the fruits of Aonghus Óg McAnally’s theatrical talents for yourself, he is currently touring his revival of the Christian O’Reilly play, The Good Father.
It’s playing this week, from Tuesday, December 5th until Saturday, December 9th, the Civic Theatre, in Tallaght.