TeoChroí Productions & Muirenn Lyons
“Do you think you can choose? What kind of heart you have?”
It’s been a year. Twins Polo and Twitch reunite for the night of their twenty-fifth birthday. Their hometown is getting smaller. The only thing there is more of is rust. But there’s a reason Polo left the island. And Twitch doesn’t want to be forgotten.
Hot Mess is a night out. It’s a club, the sea, a heart, kissing, bathroom stalls, loud music. It explores love and connection, what happens when it means far too much and far too little. What happens when it gets twisted.
Age Suitability: 14+
Warnings: Strobe lighting, sexual reference, strong language
WRITTEN BY Ella Hickson
DIRECTED BY Úna Ní Nualláin
PRODUCED BY Muirenn Lyons
LIGHTING DESIGN BY Colin Doran
PRODUCTION DESIGN BY Jodie Doyle
COMPOSITION, SOUND DESIGN & LIVE PERFORMANCE BY Ruairí Nicholl
GRAPHIC DESIGN BY Izzy Hamilton
ASSISTANT PRODUCER Anna Buchmueller
PREVIEW TICKETS €17
TICKETS €22 | €20 (student/OAP/unemployed)
RUNNING TIME 1 hr 30 mins no interval
ABOUT THE WRITER
Ella Hickson is an award-winning playwright whose work has been performed throughout the UK and abroad. Her adaptation of ‘Oedipus’ opened at the Old Vic in 2025. Other theatre includes ‘Adult Children’ (Donmar ‘21), ‘Anna’ (National Theatre ‘19), ‘Swive’ (Globe Theatre ‘19), ‘The Writer’ and ‘Oil’ (The Almeida Theatre ‘18 and ‘16 respectively), and ‘Wendy and Peter Pan’ (The Royal Shakespeare Company ‘15). She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature, a MacDowell Fellow and recipient of The Catherine Johnson Award.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
TeoChroí Productions is a new theatre company that focuses on work that connects people, showing elements of who we are at our core.
Director Úna Ní Nualláin is an interdisciplinary theatre maker and writer from Dublin, Ireland. Úna graduated in 2022 from UCD with a first in Law with History. She completed her MFA in theatre directing at The Lir Academy in 2025. Recent shows include assistant directing on ‘Bán’ in The Abbey Theatre, DTF 2025. She has written and directed two plays ‘Carline’ (The Pearse Centre ‘23) and ‘Need Help (no worries if not)’ (Boy’s School ’24).
Muirenn Lyons is a creative producer and theatre maker from Westmeath. She recently completed her MFA in Theatre Producing at the Lir, having also studied at TUD Conservatoire and Ecole Philippe Gaulier. Recent productions include sell out runs of ‘Montague’ by Megan O’Malley at the New Theatre and ‘Dead Monks’ by Jamie Sykes at Smock Alley.