Theatre calls out to the public for stories about comedian Dave Allen

By Mary Dennehy

A CALL-out for anybody who remembers or has stories about Firhouse comedian, the late Dave Allen, who broke through internationally to become one of the most challenging yet fondly remembered comedians of his time, is encouraged to contact the Civic Theatre.

Born in Firhouse, Dave Allen was an observationalist and satirist, who got his first big break in Australia, where he was spotted in a club and given his own TV show.

Returning to England, Dave found morework on the Val Doonican Show before landing his own series with ITV and later with BBC. In the 1970s, Dave was effectively banned from RTÉ for his jokes about the Catholic Church. 

A show on Dave Allen, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 65, is coming to the stage of the Civic Theatre later this month, with staff at the theatre gathering local knowledge and stories on the comedian.

One of the ‘stories’ staff have heard is that Dave lost a finger when he was young and allegedly the accident happened at a shore outside Morton’s Pub on the Firhouse Road.

Ahead of the production Dave at Large, which is showing at the Civic from March 13 to 18, the theatre is encouraging people to get in touch.

Contact the Civic Theatre through its website www.civictheatre.ie, Facebook page or by calling 01-4627477.