IF YOU had one hour left before the world ended, how would you spend it?
Actor and writer Brian James O’Sullivan had an idea, in the wee small hours of the morning, for a new play for Oran Mor’s lunchtime theatre series A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
“I had the title – The Last Cabaret on Earth – although it might have been The Cabaret at the End of the World, I can’t remember, it was late,” he says, laughing.
“And I always have an image when I start writing a show, and this time, it was a guy on a stage, sitting at a grand piano…”
Fast forward a few months, and we are invited to take our seats for The Last Cabaret on Earth, moments before the sun explodes and everything, everywhere, is obliterated.
“This guy, Sam, and his friend find out the world is ending, so they travel around doing a cabaret act,” says Brian.
“This particular night, Sam’s flight is grounded, because the world is actually just about to end, so he finds himself in a bar, having to do the act himself.”
Existential crisis and doom-mongering aside, “it should be a laugh,” says Brian, grinning.
He adds, seriously: “For me, it’s about what is valuable? What is important?
”In the current climate of funding cuts to the arts, for example, how much value do we place on the arts – or not, as the case may be? Come to PPP every week and you see hundreds of people, enjoying a shared experience of a piece of art.
“Look at lockdown, too – what did we do? We watched Netflix. We read books, we listened to music.”
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He adds: “Yes, we need to fund the NHS, but if that’s all we do, and we just work and come home and shut the door and do nothing else, how do we know what we feel about it all? The arts help us make sense of things.
“That’s what writing this play made me think about. The most important thing for me is to be able to stand on stage and sing songs, tell stories and bring people joy.”
Sam is being played by Marc Mackinnon, who Brian hails as “a unique actor and an incredible musical talent.”
“It’s been great watching Marc make these songs, which are all American songbook classics, his own,” says Brian.
This is Brian’s 12th “appearance” at PPP, although he won’t actually be there, as next week he is flying off to London to appear alongside David Tennant and Cush Jumbo in Macbeth as the hugely successful show transfers to the West End.
“What an experience it’s been,” says Brian, smiling. “My first rehearsal, I just sat there quietly to watch and learn.
“It’s just amazing to work with that calibre of actor. It feels like the big league.”
The Last Cabaret on Earth runs from September 9 to 14.
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