writing and directing
Samhain Spirits and Souls
With Ben Boulianne, June McGrane, Macdara Smith, Nico Wegrowe, Yurek Zablocki
Written and directed by June McGrane
SAMHAIN Witches Are Wise Women celebrates the ancestral Irish tradition of the autumn equinox. Belonging neither to the year which ends nor to the one which begins, Oíche Shamhna is the night when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld fades. Portals open, allowing souls of the dead and beings from both divides to wander. As the veil between the living and the dead comes down, the curtain between this 13th century Irish Pagan festival and “Hollywood Hallowe’en” rises allowing these contrasting realms to beguile, taunt and dance together in delightful and wicked ways. Masked, unmasked, transformed and disguised; seeping out from behind culinary recipes and the roots of Samhain come the tales of persecution. We listen to women’s voices from the other side and in the shadows of their words we hear the whispers of the living and the dead, of witches, mothers, daughters, judges, persecutors, providers, priests, witnesses, murderers, lovers, non-believers, condemners and executioners throughout the ages. Don’t burn the witches ….. SAMHAIN Witches Are Wise Women is a kaleidoscope of music, humour, pranks, stories, satire, images, festive horror and rituals to celebrate Samhain.
Remember by Footsbarn Theatre
With Leo Braun, Paddy Hayter, Frederika Hayter, Zoe Hayter and June McGrane
Written and directed by June McGrane with the ensemble.
Remember is a show set in a dystopian world where books, music, theatre, dance …
all forms of art are prohibited.
Audience members are invited to the ‘Tea Room’ which subsequently transforms into a clandestine theatre once the authorities are out of sight.
A cabaret of sorts with music, masks, puppetry, and poetry, lots of laughs and some goddess magic too.
This cautionary tale asks us what we would want to be remembered and preserved in a world without art.
Clown Phishing original idea by Iarlaith O’Neill
With John Harper, Lydia Keating and Iarlaith O’Neill.
Written by the ensemble.
Directed by June McGrane
Clownphishing Is A Funny And Inviting Hour Of Strangeness:
Review By James Hanton
August 19, 2024
★★★★
Every regular internet user is likely to know what catfishing is, particularly those with less-than-favourable online dating experiences. But clownphishing? That’s an altogether stranger phenomenon and happily a more enjoyable one (for you anyway). This new Free Fringe production takes a particularly wacky spin on how such drama can cause
schisms in the family. It does so in a ludicrously and lovingly funny fashion that lets all three performers play to their strengths.
The trio all fill double roles perfectly. Such is the near-perfection of the casting that they can go from a dithery, dishonest old man with heavy breathing and a bad hip to a confusingly attractive young woman in a god-awful dress without apparently much effort. They never feel like they stretch themselves too far, but nail what they set out to do with a range of impressive and very funny comedic performances. So convincing they are, and so dysfunctional they become, that you end up worrying for their state of mind (in the nicest possible sense).
Clownphishing’s recurring gags always seem to hit the mark, which can feel like a rare treat in small-scale comedy shows. Their eccentric behaviours and a pitch-perfect blend of silliness and sincerity result in characters who just keep on giving, landing gag after gag with resounding success. Refreshingly, there is not much in the way of
audience interaction. If you’re paranoid about being pulled up on stage or being made a fool of by the latest clowning ploy, you can rest easy. It lends a refreshing flow to proceedings that allows each one of the clowns to remain in their element. An unassuming delight that pokes some jovial fun at family life and internet dating, Clownphishing proves to be thoroughly enjoyable. Some inspired character work and great performances make for a show that will trigger chuckle after chuckle as you revel in the oddity laid out before you.
James is the former Lead Film Editor for The Indiependent, having previously been the Theatre Hanton News Editor. He has bylines in The Guardian, The Quietus, WhatCulture and Starburst Magazine UK, among other things. He is an avid film and television fan who holds an MSc Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh. James has been nominated for PPA Scotland's Young Journalist of the Year Award twice, in 2019 and 2021.
June McGrane is a member Fais Moi Rêver Theatre. The company has been writing and performing for Theatre in Education for over twenty years. The shows are performed for adolescents in schools and deal with subjects around bullying, addiction and sexuality.