Julie Andrews, nuns, mermaids, shopping for condoms, and life under the Iranian regime – it doesn’t get more diverse than the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival International Shorts!

International Theatre Shorts

Rating ****

In this series of short stories from America to the Middle East, we meet mermaids and nuns, singing lesbians, a wannabe Julie Andrews, and a gay man living under the oppressive regime of Iran.

That man is Ara B, and his play Turning 18 is the story of his coming out. In a moving performance he gives us a stark reminder of how difficult being gay still is in other parts of the world, and the lengths people have to go to in order to live an authentic life.

Superlubricated, written by Lynda Turner and Jim Dalgish and brought to the festival by Princetown Dramatic Arts, tells the enjoyable tale of a middle-aged woman looking for condoms at Walmart after the death of her husband, and meeting gay staff member, Perry (Dalgish). The pair discuss loss, self-worth and hope, with a bit of singing thrown in for good measure in this very funny piece.

For me the highlights of the evening were the two shorts from New York company TOSOS, featuring outstanding performances by Virgina Baeta, firstly as a lesbian folk singer meeting a nun who has left the convent in the hilarious Julie Andrews is the Devil, and secondly in Each to Each, as Sister Ann, an Irish nun at a convent in Rhode Island, who ends up getting closer and closer to a washed-up mermaid she encounters. Witty and played with superb comic timing, those two shorts leave you longing for more. Seraina Vogel

International Theatre Shorts continues at the Cobalt Café until May 14 at 7.30pm. Tickets available here or on the door.