Sinead O’Brien takes the audience on a journey, not only of her relationship with her parents, but also of the great Irish mythological figures ranging from King Brian Boru to the legendary warrior Finn McCool. McCool is directly paralleled with O’Brien’s own father, a dreamer whose struggles with alcohol and drug addiction existed alongside his vivid imagination and strong relationship with his daughter.

O’Brien is a born storyteller, not only bringing the Irish legends to life but also the childhood stories of her explorations with her father. She places the audiences right in her shoes as she brings these memories to life with an incredible animated charisma, with her descriptions of a beachside adventure being particularly evocative and encompassing both wonder and humour.

However, it’s in recounting the darker moments where O’Brien impresses the most, first telling how she became aware of her mother’s mental illness and how it would affect her own life as an adult. More powerfully, she conveys skilfully how her realisation of the extent of her father’s addictions complicate the idealised image she had of him as a child, most notably when she is told a previously unknown childhood story about him losing his temper.

In accordance, O’Brien’s tales of Finn become darker, as the previously idealised figure is shown to be equally flawed in his relationship with his son and furthering the parallel with her father. The staging is extremely minimal, with O’Brien only needing to use her voice and body to illustrate the varied settings of her stories, seamlessly flitting between the likes of ancient Ireland and a present day rehab facility in an instance.

Her sheer effort and magnetic stage presence keeps the audience engaged with Hero/Banlaoch every step of the way and ensures that it serves as a powerful reminder that all heroes, past and present, have their flaws.

Hero/Banlaochhas finished its run