Bernard McMullan's day job has much to do with filling seats on planes heading for Ireland. After hours he turns to filling seats in theaters, most lately for a play that he has written in collaboration with a friend, Colin Hamell of TirNa Theatre in Boston.
McMullan, a Belfast native, is based in New York where he works with Tourism Ireland. In his spare time, what there is of it, he is a writer of some note and output. His latest work is the play "Bumbled."
"Bumbled" recently went before audiences at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, Mass. Forthcoming dates are lined up for Gloucester Stage, also in Massachusetts, the Irish Center in Maine, and the Town Hall in Galway.
"We are trying to get it on the road as much as possible," says McMullan.
The release for "Bumbled" speaks to what has been described as "an hilarious Irish comedy." It states in part: "Life is short. Especially if you’re a bee. Not long to make honey, prop up the human food chain, and to fall in love. Bumbled follows Pascal, an Irish honeybee, as he embarks on a hilarious and poignant journey to tell the world about the importance of bees, save the planet, and to find true happiness with his French girlfriend, the epic Marion."
Colin Hamell takes on the role of pretty much every bee in the hive in what has been hailed as a stunning tour de force that is "as unique, as it is brave."
While written by Bernard McMullan, the one bee play is directed by Carmel O'Reilly, formerly of Sugan Theatre.
“We were hugely excited to bring Bumbled to the wonderful Central Square Theater. The reaction we have had to the show has been unbelievable. We set ourselves the challenge of creating something different, something that uses a humorous look at the lives of honeybees - to carry a more serious message. Under the expert direction of Carmel O’Reilly, and with a healthy pinch of outrageous and cutting comedy, we think we have found something that gives the audience a really enjoyable and unique night out,” says Colin Hamell.
O'Reilly has directed numerous productions in the New England area over the past twenty-five years with many theatre companies, including the A.R.T, New Rep, Speakeasy Stage, Gloucester Stage, WHAT, Lyric Stage and others. She is founder and Artistic Director of the Súgán Theatre Company, for which she directed many Elliot Norton award-winning productions. She has directed at several area colleges including Harvard, Emerson, and Boston College, where she was the Monan Visiting Professor in Theatre Arts in 2010.
For Tir Na Theatre Company she has directed "Trad," "The Lonesome West" and, most recently, Bernard McMullan’s "Jimmy Titanic," which toured to New York City, Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Dublin, Belfast and other venues in Ireland. She additionally directed "Return of The Winemaker," by McMullan which played to sold out houses in Boston's Rockwell Theatre in 2016 and later toured in Ireland.
McMullan is the author of screenplays such as "The Hidden Wake," "The Chicken House" and "Soon." He wrote the award winning "Jimmy Titanic" for TirNa Theatre, which has toured extensively in the U.S. and Ireland.
