Hit of Galway Comedy Festival returns to the Town Hall Theatre

Date Published: {J}

Who Needs Enemies? by Conor Montague, which was the success story of this year’s Bulmer’s Galway Comedy Festival, is returning to the city stage for one night only.

Having sold out a four-night run at the Town Hall Studio, the show will be presented on the Town Hall Theatre’s main stage on Monday December 20 for one night only. Billed as A Christmas Tale, Montague has extended the show to include the ‘wackiest Christmas Day ever staged’.

Who Needs Enemies? portrays the trials and tribulations of Eoin Hancock as he struggles to remain sober over the Christmas period. Fresh from a Buddhist retreat in the Himalayan wilderness, Hancock has returned to Galway to draw a line in the sand. Determined to escape a destructive lifestyle, he knows that his friends must be the first casualties on his pathway to cleanliness.

Unfortunately, those closest to him won’t be discarded that easily. On the Saturday before Christmas, Eoin’s friends arrive unannounced and uninvited to gradually chip away at his resistance, harassing him incessantly in the sanctuary of his own home as he struggles to remain sober. His sitting room becomes increasingly chaotic as the action progresses, becoming a microcosm of the cocaine-fuelled, hedonistic Ireland that Eoin is attempting to leave behind.

By Christmas Day, Eoin is forced to choose between the woman he loves and the friends he hates. This straightforward decision is thwarted by endless complications brought on by the festive frolics of his comrades. Eoin unwittingly discovers the true spirit of Christmas as he battles demons, friends, flying reindeer and magic mushrooms in his quest for enlightenment.

Conor Montague is a graduate of the MA Writing programme at NUI Galway, and a member of The Atlantis Collective, a group that have published two collections of short fiction over the past couple of years. The production features an all-Galway cast, which includes well-known comedian, John Donnellan, and actors, Ray Kelly, Mark Dooley, Ciara Brady, Roland Mupotsa, John Lally and Dermot Duignan. Directorial duties will be covered by Conor’s fellow MA Writing graduate, and Atlantis Collective colleague, Dara Ó Foglú. Audiences can look forward to 90 minutes of mayhem as tragic hero, Eoin attempts to deal with the substance abuse, irrational violence and sexual deviance his good friends bring to any occasion.

Who Needs Enemies? A Christmas Tale is at the Town Hall on Monday, December, 20 at 8pm.

This show is not suitable for children. Booking at the Town Hall Theatre, tht.ie or at 091, 569777.