Performance artist Xnthony introduces his acclaimed pop musical, Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry, a wickedly funny exploration of English colonialism in Ireland, which takes to the road this October and November for a national tour.

I hail from Roscommon, a place often met with eye rolls, but I take immense pride in my roots. Growing up on a farm in rural Ireland instilled in me the belief…that I could never get any notions. And indeed when I return home, which I do regularly, I feel like my nerdy, teenage self. This is actually very grounding and keeps me somewhat on the earth.

I started out studying Paint at National College of Art and Design (NCAD). Choosing NCAD gave me the breathing room to figure out what kind of creative life I wanted to lead. Soon enough, I found the jargon and pretentiousness of the art world really grating. So I ventured into performance art making ridiculously scrappy performance art pieces. During those post-crash Dublin days you could catch me singing songs from Evita while crafting towering ice cream sculptures or performing to thousands at the last ever Alternative Miss Ireland.

A little somebody called Panti Bliss stumbled on one of my videos and featured it on her blog, which meant I was officially a 'performance artist', and it suited me!

I went on to create cheeky videos on the Luas and even signed autographs. I like to think I unwittingly foreshadowed the TikTok phenomenon of nonsense videos that would be shared for likes and laughs. Following a scathing review in 2013 for my show Kitschcock, I packed my bags for London and never looked back. Now, I am a fully fledged maker of musical theatre, club parties and cabaret shows.

Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry was nominated for four awards,
including Best Production, at the 2023 Irish Times Theatre Awards

I started working on Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry immediately after a run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019 with my show Confirmation (a show about Roscommon’s marriage equality ‘no’ vote) where I felt a sense of frustration with UK audiences, who seemed disinterested in the stories I was telling. Simultaneously, as Brexit unfolded, it became evident that many in the UK were ignorant of their historical ties to Ireland. Thus the idea for Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry was born.

It took three years to make, partially because a pandemic interrupted its making; if I'm honest, that pause was the best thing that ever happened to it. It gave us time to dream big, and really go for it.

It's got pop anthems and bloody historical reenactments, all while being gas.

The show is a written collaboraytion between myself, Sam Curtis Lindsay, who also directs the show, and musician Sally Ó Dúnlaing (aka Ódú) who is the musical mastermind in the show. For something that explores such a dark subject matter, we have made it SO MUCH FUN! Because we ‘queer’ the history that we all know, what we got in the end is an entertaining, tour-de-force pop musical that embraces cabaret but also is unafraid to share the scary bits of our past and how these bloody moments echo in the present day.

It follows a troupe of Irish history nerds who are on the hunt for Oliver Cromwell’s head, which is reportedly buried in a biscuit tin in Cambridge. This is all true. When they discover the head, they inadvertently dig up the past and with it all the history and memories we share as two nations. It’s got pop anthems and bloody historical reenactments, all while being gas. Audiences get a brilliant night out and a thought-provoking experience to boot. All thanks to an evil man, Oliver Cromwell. Reparations? I think so!

Xnthony: 'Reparations? I think so!' (Pic: Christa Holka)

Following the show's premiere in 2022 at Dublin Fringe Festival, I have been focusing on taking the time to process the show’s success. A year on, I still have people coming up to me telling me how they loved it, which is very lovely, and to be honest, considering the response to my work in the past the success of this show was quite jarring. Remember that one-star review I mentioned? It feels very gratifying that 10 years later this show would go on to receive 5-star reviews and even go on to be nominated for multiple Irish Times Theatre Awards, which was certainly not on my vision board for 2023.

Now I’m focusing on developing my writing and searching for new, tantalising ideas that reflect the times we live in. I can’t wait to show you. But come see my show on tour this October and November for a guaranteed fun night out.

Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry tours nationwide from 20th October-29th November – find out more here.