“My Nigeria happened in Longford town.”
From FELISPEAKS (THISISPOPBABY’s WAKE, Best Performer at Dublin Fringe 2022), Octopus Children is a powerful coming-of-age story that follows Young Felicia as a queer, “Black Irish midlands culchie” grappling with the layers of their identity and the responsibilities that come with it, led by a wise guide: The Octopus.
Through The Octopus and its many tentacles, FELISPEAKS weaves a rich, visual narrative exploring the expansive, multifaceted experience of being Black and Irish. Octopus Children began as a gritty and poetic visual EP idea, evolving since into a multidisciplinary experience. The first poetry music video, Tough Meat, dropped in November 2022, and now, a three-year dream will finally be fully realised at Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2025.
Part poetic landscape, part gig theatre, Octopus Children is a powerful live performance by a cast of six. The work marries FELISPEAKS’ signature spell-binding spoken word style with choreography by Tobi Omoteso (Top 8 Dance Battle,Coiscéim), music by Anna Mullarkey (SAFE HOUSE, Abbey Theatre) and stunning visual design by Jack Phelan(VANYA, National Theatre, SAFE HOUSE, Abbey Theatre) and Sarah Jane Shiels (Abbey Theatre, ANU, Rough Magicand THISISPOPBABY’s: 0800 Cupid, Conversations After Sex, SHIT).
Join Young Felicia and the Octopus as they navigate growing into themselves while away from their family, losing religion while keeping God, and learning to become The Thing.
Brought to you by THISISPOPBABY and directed by Oonagh Murphy (Donmar Warehouse, Abbey Theatre, Gate Theatre, Gaiety Theatre, Druid, Galway International Arts Festival), this powerful premiere invites everyone into the Black and Irish experience, and encourages anyone on the fringes to step forward unapologetically, without retreating their tentacles.
THISISPOPBABY has been igniting stages around the world for eighteen years with an exhilarating mix of theatre, night club, festival and activism. The company has thrived at the cutting edge of contemporary live performance in Ireland, pioneering large-scale shows such as WAKE, RIOT, Alice In Funderland, and 0800 CUPID. Innovation is in the company’s veins, the work provokes change, and every THISISPOPBABY show inspires, entertains – and shocks! – in the most glittering way.
Project Arts Centre | September 2025
5 Sept, 21:00 (preview) | 6 – 7 Sept , 21:00 | 11 – 14 Sept, 18:15 | 12 & 14 Sept, 13:00
Tickets from €16 on sale now from
www.fringefest.com | www.projectartscentre.ie | thisispopbaby.com