0800 CUPID is coming back: Raucous musical extravaganza back to the Irish stage this summer
THISISPOPBABY and cabaret stage star Emer Dinneen bring their fantastic, raucous musical extravaganza back to the Irish stage this summer for an Irish tour, after its sell-out premiere in both in Ireland and UK in 2024:
“Hilarious, heartfelt theatre by one of Ireland’s rising stars” / “Entertaining in every way” - The Irish Times ★★★★★
“the highlight of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024”- Irish Examiner ★★★★★
“Feverish, fantastical soup of pop-star glam” - The Guardian ★★★★★
“Forget Cillian Murphy, Cork’s real superstar is Dineen!” / “A talent this big can’t possibly be contained. Dineen is simply phenomenal” - The Arts Review ★★★★★
“0800 CUPID is an incredible piece of theatre, bringing a queer story to the stage in an appropriately flamboyant fashion.” // ”virtuosic, life-affirming, and perfect.” - GCN ★★★★★
“Unmissable” - Everything Theatre ★★★★★
“Emer’s writing is like a big hug from someone you’ve cried to in a club bathroom!” // “Authentically queer, human, and life-affirming" - The Arts Dispatch ★★★★★
TOURS: Dublin / Cork / Galway / Clare / Sligo / Kerry :: 3 June – 4 July
With a new tour of an incredible theatre piece, THISISPOPBABY get back on the road, this time with Cork-born cabaret star, Emer Dineen’s “unmissable” show, 0800 CUPID - an SOS (emergency) response to the swelling social anxiety of a post-pandemic pre-apocalyptic world, a camp catalyst for reconnection. This beautiful show is a musical march into and back from an existential brink. The show opens at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre, and then Dineen makes a homecoming in Cork city, as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2026 – followed by an extended tour around the country till 4th July.
0800 CUPID is a genre-defying queer countercultural opus from THISISPOPBABY that fizzes between performance and reality. It’s set as a nightlife gatecrash and brings the most wonderful raucous cabaret and musical extravaganza back to the Irish stage this summer after its sell-out premiere in 2024 where it was a big hit at Dublin Theatre Festival.
Dineen’s incredible talent spans broadly as a writer, house music vocalist and actor. In 2024 she teamed up with award-winning playwright and director Phillip McMahon to create this form-busting, epic and unforgettable musical odyssey, told through a couple of very strange years in her life.
Through Dineen’s drag persona, crumbling club-kid ‘Cupid’, she grapples with love in a lonely capitalist paradigm. Hungover, moulting and disorientated, this redundant deity battles modern life, unravelling Emer’s true story of navigating loss, crises, chaotic relationships and feeling the sweet sting of meaningful connection where she least expects it.
Produced by the multi-award-winning theatre company THISISPOPBABY, 0800 CUPID post-premiere was hailed by the Irish Examiner as ‘the’ highlight of the 2024 festival – it immediately transferred to Soho Theatre in London, receiving rapturous audience and critical response in both cities, with five star reviews across the board. Audiences have described 0800 CUPID as “incredible, unmissable, riotous, good fun”.
Touring to six venues this summer – you are advised to book early as seats this show will be snapped up fast – and Dineen will pluck those heartstrings for a terrific night at the theatre.
CAST: Emer Dineen, Isabel Adomakoh Young & Carl Harrison
CREATIVE TEAM:
Text, Composition and Lyrics – Emer Dineen
Directed and Developed by – Phillip McMahon
Co-Composer and Musical Director – Tom Beech
Music Producer – Elaine Mai
Choreograph - Carl Harrison
Lighting Design - Sarah Jane Shiels
Set Design - Ellen Kirk
Costume Design - Lambdog1066
Music - Tom Beech (keys), Michael McCarthy (drums), Osazee Aiguokhian (bass)
Produced by Daniel Culleton & Carla Rogers
Photo (above) by Eoin Greally and Niall Sweeney
About EMER DINEEN:
With immediate Cork roots and hailing from South London, Dineen is a proud member of the Irish diaspora, who’s Irish Catholic family never quite understood why she was dressing up as a kinky cherub to sing dystopian love songs in sticky gay bars across London. Emer didn’t understand either, she just knew she was trying to put a shape on a feeling; a discomfort brought on by enforced isolation, or the city, the meaning crisis, loneliness epidemic, a lifetime online, the news, too much partying, telly, capitalism, self-checkouts, Pornhub, Shein. And whilst trying to make sense of this existential dread via the questionable medium of musical comedy, Emer’s life took an unexpected turn.
