Worth seeing, this one.
Breakfast on Pluto: the musical is set to premiere in Ireland later this year.
Based on the Patrick McCabe novel of the same name, the adaptation tells the story of Patrick/Pussy, a transgender woman who has recently escaped from a rural 1970s border town.
Tired of religious oppression, bigotry, and questionable paramilitary fashion sense, she decides to take her chances in London where she attempts to find her birth mother – and a life that’s actually worth living.
Adapted for the first time by Neil Jordan in 2005, Breakfast on Pluto enjoyed critical acclaim with lead Cillian Murphy being nominated for a Golden Globe and Jordan himself picking up the IFTA for Best Director.
Since then the story has amassed a cult following and, for many, becoming a pillar of queer cinema in Ireland.
The upcoming musical – starring Fra Fee, David Ganly, Niamh Perry and more – will premiere this July in Galway, as part of the Galway International Arts Festival.
Directed by Des Kennedy and written by Bob Kelly, the adaptation will be performed 120 times on stages in Galway, Dublin, Birmingham, and London over a five month period.
Kennedy says that he first encountered Breakfast on Pluto as a teenager growing up in Belfast, when his drama class was asked to be extras in a film that was shooting around the city.
“It instantly became my favourite book,” he says.
“I was astounded that Breakfast on Pluto was a story about our dreadful political situation told by a fabulous queer person who was completely unapologetic and hysterically funny.
“Pussy’s voice was so vivid and transgressive – it felt like a turning point, and we are very excited to channel that radical stardust energy into our production.”
Breakfast on Pluto: A New Irish Musical will premiere in Galway on July 13.
