Dublin Theatre Festival: Lourdes! The Musical Gets Four Stars

Lourdes! The Musical has received a four-star (★★★★☆) rating at the Dublin theatre festival, where the programme otherwise tackles racism, conflict and prejudice. Xnthony Ltd, the company behind Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry, delivers what the review calls an "effervescent" entry in a heavy-weight season.

The show's creators turn what the review describes as their "lightly quizzical gaze" on the French pilgrimage town — "a holy Blackpool, a divine Las Vegas" — and on five unlikely travelling companions for whom the site represents either hope or desperation.

What is the story?

The musical is set in 2008 in a home village in "Countryland". Singer-songwriter Matthew, played by Riain Cash, has received a diagnosis of HIV that punctures his dreams of Los Angeles. Back home, he lends his star power to a parish drama group taking a musical about Saint Bernadette to Lourdes.

The production interweaves two strands: the show-within-a-show about the parish group and the pilgrimage itself.

Who made it and who performs it?

Xnthony wrote the lyrics; Matthew Floyd Jones composed the score. Their music blends pop, club beats and soulful ballads. Sarah Meadows directs.

The ensemble around Riain Cash includes:

• Iestyn Arwel as a droll priest
• Nichola MacEvilly as a terminally ill mother
• Danielle James as her transgender daughter
• Molly Lynch as an eager tour manager

The review credits the "supercharged ensemble" with carrying the music's tonal shifts effortlessly.

How does it fit the festival?

The Dublin theatre festival programme this season confronts racism, conflict and prejudice. Against that backdrop, Lourdes! The Musical stands out for its lighter, sparkling register — a musical about a drama group's pilgrimage joined in the wider coverage by reflections on activist art and a show about lost languages.

With Xnthony Ltd's track record of quizzical, formally playful work and a four-star critical endorsement, the production positions itself as one of the festival's more distinctive offerings — proof that a story about faith, illness and small-town aspiration can carry a beat.