THEATRE Aonghus Óg McAnally stars in ‘Fight Night’

Third-generation Abbey actor puts on the gloves


Ciara Moynihan

“One chance. One shot. Fight night. No excuses.” The story of a boxing comeback is brought  to life in ‘Fight Night’, a one-man play featuring Aonghus Óg McAnally, at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Thursday, September 8, at 8pm.
The play tells the story of Dan Coyle Jr, a failed amateur boxer from a long line of accomplished fighters. Now, after the birth of his son, Dan takes the first tentative steps on his road to redemption.
Written by Gavin Kostick and directed by Bryan Burroughs, this fast-paced solo performance by Aonghus Óg McAnally combines intense physicality with Dublin wit in a storytelling experience that promises to leave audiences both exhausted and exhilarated. The play has received critical acclaim, with Emer O’Kelly (Sunday Independent) describing it as a ‘smashing play’, and Peter Crawley (The Irish Times) branding it ‘extraordinary’, ‘exhilarating and cathartic’.
Like the role he plays, Dublin-born Aonghus Óg McAnally has comes from an accomplished lineage. He is a third-generation Abbey Theatre actor, with his grandfather Ray McAnally (‘The Mission’, ‘My Left Foot’, ‘The Avengers’), grandmother Ronnie Masterson (‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, ‘The Odd Couple’, ‘Angela’s Ashes’) and mother Billie Morton (‘The Snapper’) all having acted with the Abbey Company. His father is RTÉ broadcaster and presenter Aonghus McAnally.
Unlike the boxer he plays, however, his is by all accounts far from a failure, with with the Irish Mail on Sunday describing it an impressive, extremely physical performance.