A multi-award-winning musical written and performed by Annmarie Cullen will make its London premiere this July as part of the London Queer Fringe Festival (taking place at the Queer Comedy Club, Elephant and Castle). Remember That Time? is a one-woman, mixed-media play, directed by Aishlinn Mcilhone.
“The uplifting show explores themes of loss, change, and resilience, drawing on Cullen’s own journey from a successful songwriting career in Los Angeles to rebuilding her life back in Dublin.”
Where: The Queer Comedy Club
When: 16-18 Jul
Ticket link: https://londonqueerfringe.com/
Remember That Time? was a huge success in Edinburgh. What’s happened with the show since then?
Thanks! The Edinburgh Fringe was a bucket list experience for me. It was one of the most rewarding and creative experiences of my life. Since then, I’ve enlisted the help of a director, Aislinn Mcilone who has helped hone and elevate the play and take it to the next level.
I’m currently preparing for upcoming performances in London, Barcelona and Dublin. My long-term dream is to adapt the musical into a film, so I’m quietly developing that project behind the scenes. We’ll see where it leads, but it’s an exciting new chapter for the show.
How important is it to be included in the London Queer Fringe Festival?
It’s huge for me, particularly as it’s also the show’s London debut. The LGBTQ+ theatre community has always been incredibly supportive of my work. In fact, the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival gave Remember That Time? its very first outing, which proved to be an invaluable launching pad for the show.
While Remember That Time? isn’t a show that focuses specifically on sexuality; it is told through the lens of a gay woman navigating loss, change and reinvention. That’s one of the reasons I’m so pleased to be part of the London Queer Fringe Festival. It celebrates a diverse range of stories and voices, and I’m proud that my show gets to be one of them. I can’t wait to see the other work being showcased in the festival.
Your show is multimedia and female-led. How did you get the idea and what have your collaborators brought to the creative process?
As a songwriter who has had a lot of songs placed in TV shows, I always had a dream of writing songs for a musical. When I was navigating a difficult period in my life, it inspired me to write one myself and create the storyline too.
The multimedia aspect supports the retrospective nature of the narrative. It also enabled me to include other characters on screen and “in song”, giving it a slightly different feel to a traditional one-woman show.
My on-screen co-stars are my friends in real life, comedian Gearóid Farrelly and musician Naimee Coleman, and their appearances add so much colour to the show. They were incredibly supportive throughout the creative process and really cheered me on during what was often a daunting undertaking, particularly as I was relatively new to theatre.
What have you been most proud of in your career?
Honestly, I’m most proud of the fact that I’m still making music and art in my fifties.
The creative industries can be tough and are often filled with either rejection or long periods of little gratification. Most artistic projects require an enormous amount of time, persistence and personal investment. I admire every musician, actor, comedian and artist who has the courage to put themselves out there and share their work with the world.
I’ve been fortunate at various points in my career. I’ve written for Disney, and my songs have been featured more than 60 times across television and film, which I’m incredibly proud of. But the fact that I’m still creating and performing is what I’m most proud of.
How would you sell your show to audiences in three words?
Music. Loss. Hope.