Playwright and performer Donal O’Kelly marks the 30th anniversary of the premiere of his play Bat The Father Rabbit The Son by embarking on a nationwide tour in 2019. As part of this tour Donal will be bringing Bat and Rabbit to the stage at Roscommon Arts Centre on Wednesday, February 13th at 8 pm.
First presented by Rough Magic for the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1988, ‘Bat’ has toured to New York, Chicago, London, Edinburgh, Australia and New Zealand and now it’s back where it first began, on the Irish stage.
Living in Dublin in the 1980s is Rabbit, a self-made haulage magnate. But something’s wrong. He cuts a deal with his underling Keogh to help him find his lost moorings. The quest is hampered by his dead father Bat, Citizen Army volunteer and pawn shop assistant, bubbling up. The struggle between father and son, past and present, imagination and reality, spans Dublin. Their voyage out of Howth and up the River Liffey builds to one of the strongest dramatic conclusions seen on stage.
Discussing how Bat came to be, Donal O’Kelly says “I wrote him as a character based on hundreds I saw in loud pinstripe suits running Dublin in the ‘80s, pretending their success proved no class obstacles existed”.
Written thirty years ago, Bat The Father Rabbit The Son is an explosive exposition of the generation that led us to Boom and Bust and is more pertinent than ever.
Described by The Irish Times as “Superbly written and performed” and with the Sunday Independent hailing Donal’s performance as “extraordinary”, this is a theatre experience not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now at Roscommon Arts Centre’s box office on 090-66 25824 and from roscommonartscentre.ie.
