DUBLIN CITY WITH A DYSTOPIAN TWIST
Our capital has been sold to a billionaire with big, brutal plans in comedy duo’s captivating satire
‘Rollercoasters replace the Luas and poets and hardmen prop up every bar’
Dublin Land
Fringe ★★★☆☆
The comedy duo of Matthew Tallon and Cian Jordan have brought the takeover world of big foreign business versus the little guy to its apogee in this rattling satire about a takeover world that sees Dublin city itself sold by the government to Zachary Blompkamp, an American billionaire with plans – big, brutal plans.
The show takes the form of a press conference by a new smoothtalking Taoiseach (Jordan) to announce the great takeover. No questions allowed, but there’s heckling at his flow of political guff – he’s totally innocent of the country’s economic collapse because he was only finance minister at the time.
But who could resist the new city he offers? Dublin turned into a total theme park where everyone is employed by Zachary (Tallon), rollercoasters replace the Luas and you get paid just to be a ‘typical Irish character’, hardman, poet or any of the ‘real Irish’ that should be part of every pub in the future, with Brendan Behan-like characters propping up every bar creating a ‘rare old times’ atmosphere for tourists. And the Dubdollar has replaced the euro.
Zachary wearing his Irish leprechaun green hat, explains his plans for a new-style Ireland while quoting well-known Irish sayings that nobody has ever heard of. Projected pictures show the dramatic changes that will bring greater luxury to Rathmines, civilisation to Crumlin and townships below the Cliffs of Moher.
The comedy is not too sophisticated, more slam-bang than subtle, but the audience found plenty to laugh at, and Tallon and Jordan shoot from the hip in a serious ending that replaces fun and celebration with pointed political humiliation.
It’s essentially a comedy sketch with serious intent, and overstretched at one hour, but it’s great fun, and Tallon and Jordan work very well together.