{"id":273057,"date":"2026-06-21T10:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T10:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273057\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T10:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T10:27:15","slug":"pea-dinneen-raising-her-voice-at-the-irish-rep-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273057\/","title":{"rendered":"Pea Dinneen: Raising Her Voice at the Irish Rep in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pea Dinneen\u2019s “Raising Her Voice” is about a performer becoming who she has always known herself to be. From the moment her voice changed, she struggled to be seen and heard as she saw herself \u2014 someone different from the person she was told she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am an Irish trans woman. This is what my voice sounds like. And I\u2019m here to sing you some dumb songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Written by the performer and directed by John King, the show\u2019s delightful cabaret style softens the harshness of her transformation, especially with pianist and musical director Paul James Prior\u2019s excellent accompaniment.<\/p>\n

Serving notice in cheeky fashion, even the slip of paper in the program that usually informs the audience about understudies gets in on the act: \u201cIn tonight\u2019s performance, the role of IRELAND will be played by YOU, the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a wonderful way to win over a new hometown crowd.<\/p>\n

The performance is structured as a cabaret act that amplifies emotion, using songs popular in Dublin during the 1990s as the soundtrack to Dinneen\u2019s story and personal transformation. She belts them out as if they saved her life \u2014 which they probably did.<\/p>\n

Dinneen is delightfully unabashed in presenting herself and telling the story of her transition. Along the way, the show is joyful, hopeful, grim, and heartbreaking, with occasional flights of fancy.<\/p>\n

A veteran cabaret performer, she skillfully selects songs that express emotions and ideas that words alone cannot. Yet she is more than a pop performer. Her script includes a dissection of the conditional tense in Irish and the effect it can have on self-image.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy childhood ended with the modh coinn\u00edollach. In the Irish language, that\u2019s the conditional tense.<\/p>\n

“The would, the could, the might \u2014 the tense of possibility, of potential; the unsaid, the undone, the untouched, the unkissed…?\u201d<\/p>\n

The conditional tense in a cabaret show? Dinneen proves she is not just a pretty face.<\/p>\n

\"Pea2\"Gallery\"\/<\/p>\n

Pea Dinneen in “Pea Dinneen: Raising Her Voice.” (Carol Rosegg)<\/p>\n

The evening\u2019s themes are established early with her choice of No Doubt\u2019s catchy meditation on gender expectations, “Just a Girl:”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite
So don’t let me have any rights
Oh, I’ve had it up to here.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The show is divided into 12 episodes, each exploring a different aspect of Dinneen\u2019s transition. “Voice of a Nation” begins with “Just a Girl;” “Who Were You?” features the girl-power pop masterpiece “C\u2019est La Vie” by B*Witched; and “T\u00e1 M\u00e9 (I am)” pairs a cover of Radiohead\u2019s “Creep” with Meredith Brooks\u2019 “Bitch.”<\/p>\n

For all the joy these pop songs provide, Dinneen also recounts the hardships and frustrations of her decades-long transition. Yet throughout the 90-minute performance, her story is told with an effusive confidence that overcomes political, medical, and societal roadblocks.<\/p>\n

Ireland in the 1990s was not the enlightened society it has since become. Dinneen discusses political milestones such as the 2018 referendum that repealed the constitutional ban on abortion, the personal circumstances that delayed her transition, and her unwavering acceptance of who she knew herself to be.<\/p>\n

Dublin \u2014 especially gay Dublin \u2014 is a constant companion on her journey, with familiar landmarks and locations woven throughout the narrative. One of the show\u2019s highlights is a rousing song about the \u201cgay Spar\u201d near Dublin\u2019s oldest gay bar, The George, sung in full throat and culminating in a shower of pink confetti.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cHer shelves are as long as the canal is grand
And they\u2019re stocked to the hilt with HRT on demand
Beside the fresh bread there\u2019s a selection of binders
And they\u2019ll take the order for your weekly shop on Grindr.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Spar is a chain of Irish convenience stores.)<\/p>\n

As proof of how far trans rights have come in Ireland, Dinneen arrived in New York carrying the one letter on her passport that she fought decades to obtain: \u201cF.\u201d Her story recounts everything she endured to earn that life-affirming letter. She has arrived.<\/p>\n

“Pea Dinneen: Raising Her Voice” is playing at the Irish Repertory Theatre\u2019s<\/a> W. Scott McLucas Studio through June 28. Tickets and performance information are available from the theatre\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pea Dinneen\u2019s “Raising Her Voice” is about a performer becoming who she has always known herself to be.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11041,11040,11039,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-273057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-irish-entertainment","tag-irish-news","tag-irishcentral","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}