A new original piece from Púca for adults The Holding Bones is a fitting celebration of Samhain, All Soul’s and The Day of the Dead.
At this time of year, they say, the veil between our world and the next is at its thinnest. Once we would have set an extra place at the table, left the door unlocked and lit a candle for each of our loved lost kin at Halloween and remembered our “dearly departed” throughout the month of November. In this new show, Niamh Lawlor, veteran performer from Púca for nearly 30 years, counts her ancestors on her very bones and brings them back to life on stage. Vital theatrical storytelling invites you to meditate on family, memory and rituals of grieving and how to embrace the bitter sweet turns of the cycle of life.

This will be among the opening performances of a very personal yet universal show that has been crafted over several years, assisted by support from The Arts Council, DLRCOCo, South Dublin CoCo and the Civic Theatre where a work in progress was well received by test audiences who said:

“Outstanding show, brought back so many memories, very emotional, laughed and cried, great”
“just beautiful…cathartic, profound but also soothing”
“What a beautiful piece…it came from the heart and touched my heart… it hit all the senses”
“Compelling…dancing with life and death and the shadows… Massive round of applause”

The Holding Bones lovingly recalls a host of colourful characters – songsters, storytellers and mischief makers. In paying playful homage to her ancestors Niamh Lawlor contemplates the purpose of life. Her life.

Set in her artist’s studio she draws upon her skills as a puppet maker and visual artist to enrich the tale she has to tell.

The Holding Bones is as playful and funny as it is deeply moving.

The banshee foretells death with her cry. Sometimes she’s seen, often in white, combing her hair. If you find her comb, don’t touch it. When she comes to get it, she might take your arm too.

“We were captivated by the highly atmospheric mood created by The Holding Bones. The play’s interaction with belief and mythos, reporting dreams and urban tales, builds an ethereal and expressionistic sensibility, with the workshop-like setting allowing the themes of togetherness and being remade to feel present and powerful.
The specific characters of the piece – Uncle Cyril, Aunty Barnie, the father – are conjured via thoroughly enjoyable details, the writing evoking both their simple and extraordinary natures, as well as their importance.” Abbey Theatre New Work Associate Rían Smith