Panti “Pandora Bliss”, is there anything this one woman extraordinaire hasn’t done? From founding Alternative Miss Ireland waaay back in 1987, to running her own bar in Capel St., aptly named Pantibar. Panti has even appeared on Maury Povich’s talk show with Comedian Katherine Lynch where she underwent a “drag down”. However thankfully her make under didn’t last and she is to be seen regularly in her bar on Mondays and Thursdays dressed to the nines and entertaining her adoring public.
In 2007 Panti added another feather in her cap when she wrote and preformed In These Shoes as part of the Dublin gay theatre festival. After it’s rave reviews and success she followed it up with All Dolled Up, which brought her performance to the next step and sold out every night. Now she has her sights on a third outing to stage with A Woman In Progress. Although the polished and developed version will not hit the stage until the autumn, She is giving a sneak preview in the project arts centre. I spoke to her about what to expect from A Woman In Progress.
In these Shoes and All Dolled up got rave reviews-Do you feel under pressure to raise the bar with the new material?
I guess a little, In These Shoes was really just an experiment, testing the water using my club background as a theme, so I would consider All Dolled Up as my first proper show. I wouldn’t say there is pressure to raise the bar so much as pressure to develop and bring it further along.
What would you say are the main themes/context of A Woman In Progress?
It’s a fish out of water story about the death of gay culture-part story telling/part lecture.
The show in June is a sneak preview, when can we expect to see the polished version?
The show will probably be on in September/October, exact dates aren’t finalized, but the Queer Notions Festival is treading new water for me just as much as it is for everyone else. I’m trying to suss out what I figure works and what doesn’t. You might say it’s an experiment.
Would you ever like to tour with the new show?
We toured a little with the previous shows. In These Shows traveled to Galway but we brought All Dolled Up to Brighton for a week and also Cork, but the new show is purposefully much more local, very much about Dublin or at least Ireland. So I don’t think it would translate abroad. I doubt we’ll be touring with it.
Your material is hard to categorize, would you call them plays?
You might call them plays…it’s a one-woman show, but what defines a play? There are theatrical elements in it, but there are also rudiments of stand up.
I’m always a bit dubious myself about boxing them into a category.
Its not something anyone else could play though is it? Only Panti could star in these productions….
That’s true, but that’s because they’re very personal stories but I do think it would be really interesting to see someone else have a stab at it. It could be fascinating but then it could also fall flat on its face,
Would it have to be another drag act?
Certainly in all dolled up-the stories are all drag central but maybe it would be fun to see a woman do it.
You opened Pantibar November 2007, how do you balance being an entrepreneur/Entertainer/Writer?
With great difficulty to be honest. I do always feel like I’m being pulled in different directions, but a fabulous manager runs Pantibar so I’m free to do my own thing most of the time. But of course every Monday we have Make And Do night and every Thursday I have we have a show.
Catch A Woman In Progress in the Projects Arts Centre June 24th
Tickets €15/ €10
Queer Notions is produced by THISISPOPBABY and runs from Jun 22-27 at Project Arts Centre
Words by Paul Cleary
