Jinx Lennon gets theatrical with new show on post-boom Ireland

Date Published: {J}

Fans of Dundalk singer Jinx Lennon who are used to seeing him perform his hard-hitting songs in concert venues around Galway can prepare for a change of scene as he presents his new theatre show at Nuns Island Arts Centre this weekend.

The unusually titled show, Man V Energy Vampire – Behold this S-S-Self Indulgence Gene is running as part of Galway Theatre Festival and has been in development for the past few months.

Jinx (real name David) describes it as a “bizarre manual on how to stay sane and find integrity in post-boom Western society”.

“A lot of lyrics in my songs have been begging for theatrics,” says Jinx about this show, which features the singer and his alter ego, Free State Nova, in a mix of music, visual imagery and social commentary on the post-boom state of the Irish nation.

“My alter ego is standing as a Dickensian character, like the ghost of Christmas past, present and future,” Jinx explains, adding that his show speaks to people who “might not have a voice in modern society”.

Although this move into theatre is a new departure for the folk/punk singer and campaigner, it’s not an entirely unexpected one for Jinx, who was recently described by Irish Times reviewer Brian Boyd as “a rare talent”.

“In my old band, which I played in during the 1990s, we did a lot of theatrics,” he says, adding that their props included mirrors, worms and vacuum cleaners.

And a couple of years ago Jinx took part in a series called Parlour Plays on RTÉ Radio 1, in which some of the characters from his songs were brought to life for a radio drama. That made him eager to explore the medium further, he says.

Man V Energy Vampire – Behold this S-S-Self Indulgence Gene will include cracked mirrors, a film, knives, screwdrivers, a six-string guitar and bullhorn noisemaker, as well as a tape recorder and mini disk player for a disembodied voice.

Jinx, who has written some new material for this show, says that the message in the songs is reinforced by this voice and by background imagery.

He describes this new format as “slipping sideways into the world that’s already there in the lyrics and making it more visual”.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.