THE FIRST BAD MAN

Praise for Miranda July’s novel The First Bad Man

‘Heartbreakingly sad, thoughtful, disgusting and hilarious.’

Observer

Upcoming performances in Calgary as part of High Performance Rodeo

A live performance based on a reading of THE FIRST BAD MAN, a novel by Miranda July.

Kitty Blennerhasset, John Benno, Rose McVittie and Freya Golden have recently joined a book club. Their first book is The First Bad Man and every week for a year they keep coming back to it.

This performance is a telling of these book club members’ encounter with the characters of Miranda July’s novel, reviewed by The Observer as: ‘Heartbreakingly sad, thoughtful, disgusting and hilarious’.

Each person booking tickets for the performance will receive a copy of the novel in the post.

For ages 16 +

The First Bad Man originally premiered in Dublin Theatre Festival 2021 as a five part performance piece made up of five sixty minute episodes where every night was an opening night. It was re-developed with the support of the National Theatre Studio’s Generate program in 2023 and now runs as two sixty minute performance pieces; Wormhole and Fundraiser. These episodes are performed in rep and can be viewed as stand alone pieces, or you can see them both.

Created by Mish Grigor and Gavin Quinn with Aedín Cosgrove, Luka Costello, Clare Howe, Sonya Kelly, Simon Kenny, Grace Morgan, Katherine O’Malley and Dylan Tighe.

2021 Cast (DTF): Andrew Bennett, Luca Costello, Judith Roddy & Grace Morgan

2022 Cast (Irish Tour): Andrew Bennett, Luca Costello, Anna Sheils-McNamee & Grace Morgan

2022 Cast (Germany): Andrew Bennett, Luca Costello, Genevieve Giuffre & Grace Morgan

2023 Cast (London & Germany): Mish Grigor, Faith Jones, Grace Morgan & Michael Tient

2024 Cast (New York): Mish Grigor, Faith Jones, Chris Manley & Grace Morgan

2024 Cast (Melbourne): Aljin Abella, Mollyanna Ennis, Mish Grigor & Faith Jones

2025 Cast (Calgary): Mollyanna Ennis, Mish Grigor, Faith Jones & Chris Manley

Directed by Gavin Quinn

Designed by Aedín Cosgrove

Music by Simon Kenny

Movement Director: Katherine O’Malley

Assistant Director: Grace Morgan