anu Productions | faultline (Dublin theatre festival, 2019) 

In 1982 a series of unrelated events ruptured Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community, with catastrophic consequences.1,500 people, mostly gay men, were investigated and details of their intimate lives were divulged to families, friends and employers. Under pressure from Church and State, a faultline formed, resulting in a mass exodus from Ireland in search of anonymity and refuge.

During Fautline, multi-award-winning Irish theatre company ANU propelled audiences through a living history, based on source materials contained in the Irish Queer Archive, encountering those at the heart of this upheaval as they grapple with the threat of public perception of their very private lives. As a performer and co-creator on this piece, my contribution was significant, introducing a queer politic that explored assimilation, respectability, gay shame and queer martyrdom through dance, acting and imagistic storytelling.

Directed by: Louise Lowe

Creation / performed by:

Stephen Quinn, Nandi Bhebhe,

Domhnall Herdman, Matthew Malone,

Matthew Williamson and

Robbie O’Connor

Co-Creation & Development:

Lynnette Moran

Set Design: Owen Boss & Maree Kearns

Producer: Matthew Smyth

Stage Manager: Baibre Hughes

Costume Designer: Jack Scullion

Lighting Designer: Ciaran O’Melia

Composer: Carl Kennedy

Sound Designer: Sinéad Diskin

Stage Manager: Baibre Hughes

Assistant Stage Manager: Dylan Farrell

Production Manager: Sean Dennehy

Co-Production Manager: Miriam Duffy

Associate Artist: Samantha Cade

Associate Director: Chris Moran

Security: Joe Hughes

Supported by The Arts Council, Dublin City Council, Gate Theatre Residency, Live Collision International Festival and The National Library of Ireland.

Praise for Faultline

★ ★ ★ ★ “thrillingly immediate” - The Irish Times

★ ★ ★ ★ “Eloquently directed and choreographed… a powerful spur to empathy” - The Guardian

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “epic in aspiration, biblical in power, divine in execution…” - The Arts Review

★ ★ ★ ★ “A powerful, intimate experience at a crucial historical moment” - The Business Post

★ ★ ★ ★ “your gut remains punched for a long time afterwards" - RTE Arena

★ ★ ★ ★ “A heartfelt depiction of a movement gaining ground” - Musings In Intermission

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anu Productions | faultline work-in-progress (Project Arts Centre, 2018)

A work-in-development performance of Faultline was presented as part of Live Collision International Festival (Project Arts centre, 2018). For this showing, Matthew Williamson and I created a dance piece that explored the extensive Irish Queer Archive at the National Library of Ireland, examining in particular the events of January 20th, 1982, whereby a gay man Charles Self was murdered in Dublin.  Nobody has ever been charged with his killing and, nearly 40 years later, those who knew him still grapple with the circumstances of his death and the controversial investigation that followed. As part of this investigation, Gardaí raided a members-only gay club, confiscated the list of members and began ‘outing’ members of an underground, covert gay community overnight. This sent terror through the community and resulted in a mass exodus by its members out of Ireland and across the Irish sea to London and other major cities, where anonymity and refuge could be sought. Families across Ireland disowned their sons and daughters upon these revelations and unrepairable heartache was inflicted across the gay community.  Almost 1,500 men were investigated. There was no going back.

Created by Louise Lowe with Stephen Quinn, Domhnall Herdman, Carl Kennedy, Matthew Malone, Lynnette Moran and Matthew Williamson.

Designed by Owen Boss & Andrew Clancy

Lighting: Ciaran O’Melia

Supported by The Arts Council, Gate Theatre Residency and National Library of Ireland.