Hilarious and heartbreaking
Holy Mary Jerome Hynes Theatre Friday 26 October - 8.30 p.m.; Saturday 27 October - 8.30 p.m.; Friday 2 November - 8.30 p.m.; Saturday 3 November - 8.30 p.m.
WRITTEN in 2011 by Wexford’s bestselling author Eoin Colfer, and revised in 2018, Holy Mary is the story of two nine-year-old girls on the days leading up to the social occasion of the year: their First Holy Communion.
Mary and Majella have been mortal enemies since baby infants, and things have deteriorated since Mary’s daddy moved in with Majella’s mammy. Both girls are searching for a way to insult the other, and Majella thinks she has found a weak spot when she realises that Mary’s Communion dress is actually a second-hand dress that she herself donated to the Vincent de Paul shop. Will Majella use this devastating information to publicly take down her nemesis with a vicious rhyme? Or will she realise that maybe she and Mary are not so different and that maybe they could be allies instead of enemies?
In typical Colfer fashion, the characters are very real and very funny, with more than a serious nod to the challenges that face family life today. The cast of two play two mothers, a benevolent priest, a patient teacher, a misguided father and two cheeky and lovable nine-year-olds in this rich story.
Holy Mary, a hilarious and heartbreaking tale of Communion, confusion and consternation.
Written by Eoin Colfer, produced by Breda Cashe, directed by Aoife Spillane-Hinks and designed by Jack Kirwan, it stars Mary Murray and Maeve Fitzgerald.