Review: DOUZE - A Most Rare Euro Vision

A couple of weeks ago popstar-wannabe Xnthony stood outside the Gaiety Theatre and announced through a megaphone his campaign to represent Ireland in the Eurovision. Anthony Keigher's systematic critique of media culture daringly regards itself so as to spin Broadsheet.ie comments ("If I had a gun I'd shoot him" he reads in a Youtube video, while Everybody Hurts wallows in the background) and a vicious Irish Times review as positive publicity for his new show.

Turning towards that camp institution that pits nationalities against each other, Xnthony presents a selection of songs for the audience to vote on. On a sparkly low-fi stage evocative of a vintage RTÉ studio, fizzy synths and moody guitars are sung over in rudimentary lyrics, from easy sing-along Numbers to drinking-game ditty Party. Rollerblades and hula-hoops are pulled out in the song contest's spirit of excess.

Sugary fun aside, cultish addresses to the audience bespeak either firm belief or delusion in Eurovision as Ireland's saviour, with uneasy desire for perfection embodied by superfluous backing performers the Penny Slots (Tiffany Murphy and Hannah Fisher, with endless aplomb).

What's intriguing about Keigher is the uncertainty of whether he's parodying the celebrity rise to power or gunning for glory himself. If, like Ireland's Eurovision quest, he is pandering for approval he really doesn't need it. Like anyone operating outside easily classifiable systems, he'll sooner change the game than be a player.

DOUZE runs at Smock Alley Theatre (Black Box) until 13 Sept. For more information and tickets, see the Fringe website.