Wayne Power brings popular play ‘Dress You Up’ to Theatre Royal

Two years on from its first workshopped performance in Garter Lane’s A Little Room, the popular Waterford play, 'Dress You Up', will be making its Theatre Royal debut on July 11.

Written and directed by Wayne Power, 'Dress You Up', played for four sold out nights last October in Bank Lane as part of the Imagine Arts Festival.

The play received an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences and went on to be nominated for Best New Play at the Waterford News & Star Green Room awards.

In what is Power’s first directorial outing, the cast is led by Fatz Dunphy and Karen Steenson alongside Evie Burke and Jake Penkert, and introduces David Marchant as lead character ‘Bobby Burke ‘ 

The play tells the story of Bobby, an aspiring drag queen still reeling from his mother’s untimely death. As Ireland welcomes a new Taoiseach, Britpop throws its last hoorah and Girl Power becomes part of pop culture towards the millennium, the summer of 1997 in which the play is set, will shape and change the lives of each character.

Main character Bobby Burke is discovering that he will need to master walking in his stilettos, before he can run.

Decky Flynn torments him at school, but luckily he has Mandy, who despite her own drama, has been crushing on Decky and recently had a slip up.

Bobby also has his aunt Karen, a hard-drinking, karaoke-loving disaster in an endless cycle of hangovers, vomit and bad karaoke.

Meanwhile his father, Mick, has buried himself in work since his wife died and has not been there for Bobby.

'A material boy in a mixed up world', drag becomes a suit of armour for Bobby, screaming under disco balls and dances till dawn, demanding to be be heard.

Very much a love letter to the nineties, Dress You Up tickets are available from theatreroyal.ie