Sonya Kelly with Justin Murphy

Rough magic bringing awardwinning show to navan

Rough Magic’s revival of hit show ‘How to Keep an Alien’ comes to Solstice Arts Centre on Saturday 17th October.  The story about falling in love and proving it to the government is written and performed by Sonya Kelly. Winner of the Tiger Dublin Fringe best production award, this show won accolades from critics and audiences when in premiered in Dublin and Brisbane in 2014. This revival is presented in association with Soho Theatre (London).
How to Keep an Alien returns from its almost month long residency at the Traverse Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015 to resume a nationwide Irish tour to November.
How to Keep an Alien is a funny and tender autobiographical tale in which Irish Sonya and Australian Kate meet and fall in love, but Kate’s visa is up and she must leave the country.  Together they must find a way to prove to the Department of Immigation that they have the right to live together in Ireland.  The paper trail of evidence for ‘the visa people’ takes them on a global odyssey from County Offaly to the Queensland Bush. It’s a tricky business coming from opposite ends of the earth. It takes an Olympian will and the heart of a whale, but above all else, paperwork. It takes a hell of a lot of paperwork!
How to Keep an Alien is written by Sonya Kelly, directed by Gina Moxley and performed by Sonya Kelly with support from Justin Murphy.  Kelly’s debut show, The Wheelchair on My Face, won a Scotsman Fringe First Award in 2012 and has played 150 performances in over 50 venues including New York where it received the New York Times Critics’ Pick.  Sonya was a participant on Rough Magic’s ADVANCE programme, which gives established artists the opportunity to expand their knowledge and broaden their artistic horizons through a structured programme. She has performed with many of the major Irish companies including the  Gate Theatre, Druid Theatre, the Cork Exchange and Fishamble: the new play company.  Sonya is a cast member of RTE’s hugely successful sketch show, The Savage Eye and is a weekly contributor to the arts show, Arena on RTE Radio 1. 
Tickets from €14 are available online  at www.solsticeartscentre.ie or call box-office (046) 909 2300 to book.