Dream Factory featuring a spectacular circus and acrobatic mayhem
‘Dream Factory’ is the eagerly-anticipated circus musical written by Cian Kinsella from renowned acro-comedy outfit Lords of Strut (RTÉ’s Body Brothers; Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists), created with Jennifer Jennings (THISISPOPBABY) and composed by GMCBeats (Producer of The Spark, the recent internet hip-hop sensation).
A young girl, Breda Spring, becomes an unlikely leader against a sinister plot of ultimate destruction.
The town of Ballyplastic is under threat from a villainous CEO and his maniacal boss, and Breda goes head-to-head with this despicable corporation whose greed and mania could destroy her town, the country… and possibly the world.
Featuring spectacular circus, acrobatic mayhem, and big banging musical numbers, Dream Factory sounds a warning bell about what can happen if we continue to destroy our natural resources.
This epic tale will leave you sore from laughing, your feet itching to dance, and your heart full of possibility.
‘Dream Factory’ features a star-studded line up of world-class actors, singers, dancers, actors, acrobats, and puppeteers, including ‘Múinteoir Ray’ Cuddihy from RTÉ Home School Hub, Lachlan Chapman from the international doo wop sensation The Overtones, and Ruth Berkely from Disney’s Disenchanted, with multi-award winning cult-cabaret legends Bourgeois & Maurice acting as script dramaturgs.
As an ecological parable focusing on greed, consumerism, and environmental destruction, writer Cian Kinsella says: “The show allows us to look at the effects of an extractive economy, gives us hope that we can find our way out of it, and inspires us to engage differently with nature.
“Within a quest fantasy, it pulls no punches while being entertaining, thoughtful, and very funny.
“It’s about empowerment and agency.”
The first circular economy musical produced in Ireland, the production is created using sustainable practices: repairing, reusing, and upcycling over 85% of all set materials, costumes, and props, in addition to sustainable codes of practice throughout.
With multiple sustainability partners, including Circular Costume.
This week, we sat down with Jennifer Jennings to discuss the show, which will have its world premiere hosted by the Civic from September 21 to October 5.
What inspired this show?
I first met Lords of Strut in 2016, and we worked together on ‘Riot’, which headlined the Dublin Dance Festival in 2019.
We also worked together on ‘Absolute Legends’ back in 2017/18 and toured the country multiple times.
One day, we asked ourselves and discussed “What would an ensemble ‘Lords of Strut’ show look like?”.
It was a priority for us to have a fun set that the cast could enjoy performing on.
We wanted to use this show as an opportunity to talk about climate breakdown but in a comedic way.
Have there been any particular highlights or challenges during the production?
We held a development workshop for the show in July 2021 in University Limerick; there were 15 of us, and back then, the world was still in lockdown, so it was difficult to work around that and make sure everyone could make it, as some lived at other ends of the country.
Cian [Kinsella] brought in his friend Garry McCarthy [director of GMCBeats] to help.
The show was not originally planned to be a musical, but Garry is such a creative guy that we were encouraged to lean more into a musical aspect.
Are there still nerves when preparing to put on a show like this?
I wouldn’t really say so; it’s more excitement!
Of course, it’s a long process; this show has been in the works for the past five years, and you have to discover and open your mind to new aspects that could be incorporated into the show, such as circuits and dances, and figure out how they can be used.
You always have to have one foot in front of the other.
There are definitely a few challenges and curveballs along the way, but that’s just part of it, and you have to be ready for that.
What drew you to the Civic?
I love it as a space! I remember watching ‘Straight to Video’ by Emmett Kirwan there and really enjoying it.
After ‘Dream Factory’ was exhibited as a work-in-progress show in the Everyman Theatre in Cork back in January 2023, Donal Shiels [artistic director of the Civic] met us and was really supportive; he told us that he really enjoyed it and he would love to see if we could perform it in the Civic.
I just thought it was the perfect place to premiere it, as I grew up in Templeogue, and therefore, I have a special connection with Tallaght.
What is next for you?
We are currently putting together international tours and we are hoping to go on tour from February of next year.
We will also be gearing up for the ‘Beyond the Pale’ festival in Glendalough Estate in Wicklow for June.
So yeah, I’m a very busy woman at the moment!
Who would you like to thank?
Oh God, so many people! In this business, you have to do a lot of relying on the goodwill of others to get your ideas off the ground and actually make them happen!
This show is five years in the making so many people will have chipped and added their two cents to help make it a reality.
I would like to particularly thank Donal Shiels and everybody at the Civic for being so supportive and accommodating, and the arts council, particularly Bea Kelleher and David Purcell, for giving us the funding for it.
This would not have been possible without them, and for their help, I am so grateful!
