HUMANITY DICK: A Tale of Beasts and Bullets, the sell-out hit of last year’s Galway Fringe Festival, returns to Galway city and the Clifden Arts Festival – each a special homecoming in its own right.
Seán Leonard’s one-man show is about the fascinating life and adventures of Galwayman, Richard 'Humanity Dick' Martin - MP, 'King of Connemara', duellist, worldwide father of animal protection, cuckolded husband, bankrupt, and exile.
The show will be staged in the Kasbah Wine Bar, above Tigh Neachtáin, Cross Street, this Saturday at 3.30pm. Only 40 tickets (€10 ) are available from Kasbah Wine Bar and Tigh Neachtáin. The Clifden Arts Festival show is at the Station House Theatre, Wednesday September 13 at 1pm. Tickets are €5 via www.clifdenartsfestival.ie
Each of the upcoming shows represents a 'homecoming' for Humanity Dick, says Seán. “As soon as I wrote the script, I wanted to bring the show to Clifden – Richard Martin was born in Galway, but was landlord of almost everything west of the city; he made his home in Ballynahinch Castle for many years. To bring his story to life at the Station House Theatre in Clifden, in Connemara, is something special. The fact Martin was a bitter rival of John D’Arcy, who founded Clifden on the edge of the Martin estate, makes the location all the sweeter!”
The Kasbah Wine Bar also has a connection to Martin. "The building that houses Tigh Neachtáin was actually Richard Martin’s townhouse in the late 1700s," says Seán. "I will be acting out scenes from his life in the very room in which he spent many days and nights of that life. It couldn’t be a more appropriate venue – the building is even mentioned in the show.”
