Birmingham Hippodrome – until 7th February 2026
Reviewed by Emma Millward
4****
Teaċ Daṁsa is a Dance-Theatre company founded by Michael Keegan-Dolan in 2016. The company is deeply rooted in the heritage, folklore, and culture of rural Ireland. MÁM began life in a West Kerry community centre in 2019 as a collaboration between all artists involved. The centre’s location at the base of a mountain inspired the production’s title, MÁM has multiple meanings in the Irish language, including ‘mountain pass’. Since then, it has appeared at festivals and venues worldwide and received Olivier Award nominations. This year marks its first UK tour, presented by Dance Consortium, visiting nine venues over the next two months.
As the performance begins, the auditorium lights remain up for a while, immediately wrong-footing the audience and leaving them uncertain if the show has truly started. We are met with the uneasy sight of a figure in white lying on a table as a concertina player (Cormac Begley) clad in a black ram mask slowly begins to play. The figure is revealed as a young girl (Delilah Neilson) dressed in white, who begins to eat a packet of crisps (the first of many appearances of the Tayto Crisps brand!). In the first of three cleverly orchestrated set changes designed by Sabine Dargent, a curtain is pulled aside to reveal the dancers, all dressed in black dresses and ties, they sit on a row of chairs watching, clapping and rhythmically stamping in apparent celebration of the girl. Wearing strange masks and under eerie lighting by Adam Silverman, they appear otherworldly. What follows is a whirlwind of dancing, laughing and often bizarre behaviour. This is all set in what resembles a community centre function room. The young girl remains a silent witness as the adults around her dance, kiss, swing chairs around and even scream at each other, with Cormac Begley’s ever-present concertina music underscoring the action. Sometimes the dancing is soft and sensual, at other times it’s aggressive and uncomfortable to watch.
The second curtain pull reveals contemporary music collective s t a r g a z e, who add an extra layer to the already atmospheric music. Rather than staying in the background, the musicians become part of the action, with the dancers interacting directly with them. The dancers work strongly as an ensemble, and everyone gets their own moment to shine, but a special mention must go to James Southward. Throughout, my eye was constantly drawn to him. His exaggerated movements and sharp comic timing drew many laughs from the crowd. This was especially true during the memorable scene where he moves around the stage and kisses almost everyone in turn.
At the conclusion, the final curtain is pulled back to reveal stark tube lighting and a huge fan that blows fog towards the audience. As the girl begins to conduct the dancers as they sing, and one by one break the fourth wall and face the audience for the final time.
Michael Keegan-Dolan has said that MÁM is a show he wants the audience to experience and feel rather than simply watch. He also notes the narrative of the piece is deliberately ambiguous and left open to interpretation. I will admit for the first half of the piece I was so busy trying to figure out what was happening and asking myself does it take place at a funeral wake, a wedding, a cult gathering? But as the show progressed, it became clear there really are no definitive answers.
MÁM is by no means an easy watch. Unsettlingly hypnotic, yet unexpectedly tender at times, it’s a performance that leaves the audience questioning what they have just witnessed.