Writer: Hannah Power & Conor Murray
Director: Conor Murray
Don’t Tell Dad about Diana is in many ways ideal Saturday evening Fringe theatre – it’s fun, it’s heartfelt, it’s sincere, and it’s been created by two people with wonderful chemistry. While it may not impress itself ferociously on one’s consciousness, it is a very pleasing way to spend a September evening.
Conor and Hannah are two 18-year-olds in 1997, expecting little from their Leaving Cert results, but everything from life; Hannah is designing Conor’s outfits, all based on those of Lady Diana, for the upcoming Alternative Miss Dublin Competition, and their impending victory will surely lead to a glamorous life in London, all based in their two-bed Chelsea apartment. Conor hasn’t told her that he has been accepted to theatre school in Dublin, nor has he told his parents that he is both gay and a wannabe drag queen; these are the emotional centrepieces, and are dealt with tenderly and seriously. The comedic setup, witty writing, and natural humour are carefully deployed to avoid obscuring these wider ideas that pluck gently on the audience’s heartstrings.
The core of the drama itself is the Alternative Miss Ireland Contest in The George. Their routine has been painstakingly designed and devised, with a transition from Conor in Diana’s wedding dress to her famous revenge dress being the real moneymaker. The only problem is that this is the 31st of August, and the news of Diana’s Paris death has managed to elude them until Conor’s act is savaged onstage. While some of the plot points are mildly predictable, they are all delivered with such panache, such aplomb, that it is impossible to find this anything but charming.
The stage in Bewley’s is miniscule, wedged in the corner and only barely raised from the floor. Power and Murray are such precise performers that this presents little difficulty for them; the only non-clothes prop is a wardrobe, both sides of which are used to set the scene as either The George or Conor’s bedroom. Lighting and music cues are ideally pitched, the setting switches comfortably across locations, and the balance between humour and sincerity is always maintained. A wonderful 60-minutes in the theatre that suggests there is far more to come from both performers.
Runs until 13th Sept 2025.
