ACCENTS is a transformative show about the arrival of new life, the families we try to create, the families we may never have, and the post-crash boom generation living a life delayed. Prompted by the birth of Kirwan’s first son, the actor-writer explores the sounds of our voices and how they define us, how we’re perceived and how they can give us power.
This 2025 tour of the show is dedicated to the memory of the late musician Eoin French who sadly passed away earlier this year. The show tours to six venues, playing at Belltable on Thursday February 13 and Friday February 14 before continuing on to Cork and Galway.
Written by Emmet Kirwan (Dublin Oldschool), and music composed by Eoin French (Talos) and directed by Claire O’Reilly (Malaprop Theatre), ACCENTS presents a powerful, poetic journey through a gentrified city.
The play takes the form of eight poems delivered against French’s incredible soundtrack. The show has its own unique universe with its own gravitational pull, with an expanding and contracting celestial rhythm driven by playwright and spoken word artist Emmet Kirwan, under the compelling and energetic direction of one of Ireland’s most exciting directors, Claire O’Reilly. It is Kirwan’s Big Bang stage presence, his pulsating life-affirming energies through words and movement that make this show a must for your new year outings.
Accompanied by the amazing musical talents of Ben Bix and Brian (The Line) Dillon, two classically trained musicians and members of the experimental electronic super group Melty Brains. Through their multi-instrumental talents they bring Eoin’s exquisite score to life.
Speaking about Accents, Emmet Kirwan said:
“I am thrilled to bring Accents back to the stage and to a larger audience. I set out to write a contemporary piece about life in modern Ireland five years ago alongside Eoin.
“Life has changed for everyone since then including myself and becoming a father and that changed the narrative of not only my own story but the narrative of this play, and the loss of Eoin has profoundly affected all of us and changed how we see the world and his work, we hope to bring Eoin French’s incredible score and body of work back to the stage so it can be heard by new audiences and make sure that it still pulsates and lives on in peoples’ memories.
“I know he was incredibly proud of what he made and we want people to hear that. This show is laugh out loud funny, energetic, entertaining, and also extremely life affirming.”
Running Time: 65 mins approx. Music by Ben Bix and Brian Dillon.
Playing at Belltable on Thursday February 13 and Friday February 14.
