Review: DAUNTLESS, Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 10 – 14 November 2026 & touring
‘Performer and writer Debs holds the audience in the palm of her hands and commands the stage.’ ★★★★★
An empty stage bar one chair, a singular lighting state and zero sound cues. Depending on who you talk to, this may be Theatre in its most stripped back state or storytelling in its purest form. As many a creative will argue, the film and the visuals we create in our head will always be the best and that is exactly the premise that Debs Newbold leans on in her play DAUNTLESS, a one woman epic—in film terms ‘a biopic’ – about Irish ‘Pirate Queen’ Gráinne Ní Mháille. We, the audience, are encouraged to cast this story as we like and to experience this story in all its visual cinematic glory, allowing our imaginations to take hold. Debs, tonight, is not an actor, but an ‘auteur’—French, she tells us, for ‘Christopher Nolan’.
Unlike Christopher Nolan however, Debs is not interested in ‘Hero’s journeys’. She is interested in stories with tangled yarns and endings that cannot be neatly tied in a bow. In other words, move over Odysseus and make way for another kind of fearless leader with, arguably, a better sense of Geography and, luckily, less testosterone.
As an Irish woman who has always been fascinated by the incredible story of Gráinne/ Grace/ Granuaile, this play had an obvious appeal to me and it did not disappoint. Performer and writer Debs holds the audience in the palm of her hands and commands the stage in, it could be said, the same way that the woman at the heart of this story commands the seas. Gráinne O’Malley was an Irish female chieftan and leader who, in the 16th century commanded the land and seas of Ireland’s west coast. A formidable character made all the more impressive considering the time period she lived through; a highly patriarchal society and a land resisting colonisation and oppression.
Debs, in her weaving of this fascinating –and completely true --tale, occupies a space of both storyteller and actress, at times embodying the ‘gorgon haired’ character of Gráinne and at others an engaging bard who brings the audience along every step of the way, looking directly at you as she lands well-timed asides or by bringing you into the story. At points, members of the front row become gossipy ladies in waiting in Elizabeth I’s court, and others from their seats embody the geographical landmarks of Grainne’s life—Clare Island, Bunowen pier and more. This form of storytelling theatre, an art form of its own, lends itself particularly well to this very Irish tale. Ireland has a rich history of oral tradition with our storytellers known in Gaelic as ‘seanchaí’, descendants of celtic bards and custodians of a rich culture and history. This synergy of form and story is not the only reason DAUNTLESS is a play to watch, it is a beautifully written homage to a fascinating woman and a history that deserves more attention. Newbold has done her research making sure that this play not only gifts the audience a rich theatrical experience, but plenty of historical juiciness too—my favourite fact? Irish Brehon Law allowed a woman to marry a man for one year on trial. You can bet Gráinne made full use of it.
Despite the lack of our usual theatrical trickery, I would be content if this story was never reinvented into a high production valued West End run or Cinematic blockbuster because, as Newbold promised, the film I made in my head was ten times better. Catch DAUNTLESS tonight at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre and see for yourself.
DAUNTLESS by Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 10th – 14th November (7.30pm) and touring
Box Office https://www.thelionandunicorntheatre.com/whats-on
