"compelling ... one of the best plays in Wexford for years" - The Wexford Echo
"a fine addition to Irish theatre" - The Munster Express
"by the curtain call, my heart was in my mouth, my eyes were watering with compassion ...my sides hurt from laughing ... a wonderfully funny yet heart wrenching play" - Culch.ie
"This Week must see theatre Bondi Beach Boy Blue - Benny McDonnell- penned tale of wanderlust down under." The Sunday Times' Culture magazine(8 August 2010)
"new and innovative" - Dermot Bolger, The Irish Times
"by turns comic and deeply affecting" - The Kerryman
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." - Eddie Keher
"hugely enjoyable, thought- provoking, interesting, realistic, touching and very, very real." - Brian Cody
"depicts the profound importance and influence that Gaelic games can have on the lives of young people." - Nickey Brennan, GAA President(2006-2009)
Eddie Keher and Brian Cody pictured with Benny McDonnell at the first production of
Bondi Beach Boy Blue at Cleere's Theatre, Kilkenny in September, 2007.
About Bondi:
Australia- the great southern land. A land girt by sea and pissed by lunchtime. Home to nine of the ten most poisonous creatures on earth. To Crocodile Dundee. To Skippy. To sixty million sheep. Home also, albeit briefly, to tens of thousands of young people from Ireland and the UK, who each year forsake lukewarm summers and so-so winters to fly south in search of adventure, warm sun and cold beer. Sooner or later they all end up in Sydney. Lured by the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, golden beaches and soaps, many are snared by the bright lights of eastern Sydney and the myriad of watering holes jam-packed with fellow travellers. In the midst of this superhighway of youth and excitement, it’s easy to escape …
Armed with passport and not much else, Declan- accompanied by his best friend Gary, gravitates toward Ireland’s 35th county, Bondi. Disillusioned with life at home, he is seeking pastures new. In a land of sun, fun and a thousand friendly faces, ten thousand miles from home, with the Olympics coming, it's an exciting time. It’s a chance to start again. Can Declan take it? Or is any attempt at escape doomed to failure?
Bondi Beach Boy Blue is Declan’s story. The story of his relationship with his father, Gary- his best mate, his uncle Donie and the women in his life- Lisa and Emma. The story of the set of problems he ran away from in Ireland and what he ran into in Australia.
Characters:
Declan
Gary: Declan’s best friend.
Lisa: Declan’s girlfriend.
Emma: English, barmaid.
Father: Declan’s.
Donie: Declan’s uncle, journalist with local Kilkenny paper.
Bondi's title was riffed from Dublin-based, Independent Music Awards Songwriters of the year 2007, The Guggenheim Grotto's Portmarnock Beach Boy Blue. The Guggenheim Grotto who released their second album - Happy the Man, on September 5th, 2008 and have had their music featured in several high- profile TV shows in the US including One Tree Hill, Brothers & Sisters, Men in Trees & Six Degrees have contributed a specially recorded version of the song for the show. For more information: www.guggenheimgrotto.com.
Bondi was given a public reading by Fishamble Theatre (Dublin) at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin in April, 2004 and first produced by OCI Productions at Cleere's Theatre, Kilkenny in September, 2007.
Bondi is based on an idea by Paul Feely and Benny McDonnell. Paul, Gary Daly and Benny ran the Sydney 2000 City to Surf.
Bondi on YouTube:
All-Ireland winners Jimmy Deenihan, TD and John O'Mahoney, TD join Benny McDonnell and cast for Bondi's Dublin premiere at Smock Alley Theatre, Temple Bar - 08/10/08.
