'Taboo' is a dark comedy by an award winning writer at The Source

Taboo is a dark comedy that allows us to better get acquainted with the skeletons in our cupboards. The story goes that there was a boy and a girl and somehow, they met. Lily doesn’t get out much. Tom finds it hard to meet new people. And now they’re having their first date.

Lily cooks a three-course meal. Tom brings flowers and wine. On the surface, everything seems fine. But in the modern world, dating is a surprisingly complex thing with a lot of unwritten rules. There are certain things you shouldn’t do on a first date. And then there are certain things you shouldn’t do at all.

The play unfolds in real time over a three-course meal. It is a romantic comedy about two people who meet and go on a date, but in an attempt to present the best versions of themselves, the date starts to go horribly wrong.

By the time they get to the third course, there is nothing left but to reveal their most authentic selves. In a society where more and more of our interactions take place online (including dating), Taboo looks at two people trying to connect in the real word.

The play is about the difficulty in expressing your true self, social exclusion, compassion, acceptance, and forgiveness.

Reviewer John Arnold said that it had “more twists and turns in Taboo than on the Ring of Kerry. The production is excellent. “Red ’n Blue Theatre Company have taken this two-hander and turned it into a wonderful piece of comic yet tragic, hilarious yet poignant, dramatic tour de force”.

Red ‘n Blue Theatre Company was founded by husband and wife Dylan Kennedy and Jenny Fennessy. Their debut production, LOVESONG sold out 16 performances across Cork, Waterford and Dublin.

It was nominated for 5 Waterford News and Star Green Room awards, including Outstanding Event of the Year, Best Play, Best Director and won awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Their second production, THE FLAGS was nominated for a further 6 Waterford News and Star Green Room awards and won Best Play of the Year 2022, Best Set and Best Supporting Actress (Jenny Fennessy).

John Morton is from Kilkenny and is the creator and writer of the TV series Dead Still, for which he won an Edgar Award for Best TV Episode Teleplay.

He has written and directed several short films including Smitten for RTÉ Storyland, and also wrote the award winning shorts called Seanie, Flo, Kathleen and Swerve. For the stage John has written the plays Denouement), War Of Attrition, Scratcher, Smitten and Heart Shaped Vinyl (Devious Theatre). With Peter McGann, he co-wrote the Irish historical plays The Hellfire Squad and The Roaring Banshees. 

He also 2wrote the adaptation of Thomas Kilroy’s novel  The Big Chapel (Asylum/Abbey Theatre/Kilkenny Arts Festival) which was nominated in three categories at Irish Times Theatre Awards 2020.

John is a founding member of Devious Theatre in Kilkenny and White Label in Dublin. Jenny Fennessy is an acting graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. TV credits include Call the Midwife (BBC) and The Doireann Project and Seriously, Sinéad? which is a show on RTE.