ASHLING AND Dan have a plan. Armed with nothing but their wits and a crime caper film obsession, they are plotting a daring heist on the Central Bank in Dublin.
This is Aisling’s Seven (The Central Bank Heist ), a fast-paced comedy written and directed by Cian Ó Ceallacháin, which will be performed by Dublin troupe Underdog Theatre Productions as part of the Galway Fringe Festival.
Having watched too many crime caper films, Ashling and Dan hole themselves up at their base of operations - their flat in Ranelagh - to prepare every detail. They have aliases and at least one friend with a getaway car. Will they pull it off and make it to freedom, with cash in hand, or go out like a bargain basement Bonny and Clyde?
“It’s a zany romantic comedy about this couple who are stuck in a rut,” Ó Ceallacháin tells me over an afternoon chat. “Ash and Dan both have jobs but they only earn enough to get by. Then they get it into their heads that because they have seen lots of bank heist movies and because they work in finance they have the know-how to commit a bank robbery.
"The core element of the story is that by planning the robbery together it brings them out of the rut and back together, that’s the heart of it. There is some recession humour in there as well of course. The title derives from the fact that Ash plans on putting together a team of seven people to rob the bank and it’s a spoof on the like of Ocean’s Eleven as well.”
Ó Ceallacháin co-founded Underdog Theatre with actor and writer Jessie Doyle in 2012. Dedicated to new work, the company’s shows to date include Tonight Around Half Eight, a string of short comedies all set around 8.30pm, Waiting for Garda, and A Storm in Swords, which they toured to Mayo in 2014. Aisling’s Seven will be Underdog’s first time visiting Galway and it travels west on the back of a successful two week run in Dublin’s Theatre Upstairs.
Aisling’s Seven features Susan Barrett (Aisling ), Stephen Gorman (Dan ), with Sinead O’Brien as Aine, Ash’s annoyingly smug sister. It runs at Nuns Island Theatre from Tuesday July 12 to Thursday 14 at 8pm. Tickets are €10/8. See www.galwayfringe.ie
