Public Shows
Rua’s one-man shows have garnered him critical acclaim within the Irish performing arts world, with the Irish Theatre Magazine writing that “Rua has firmly established himself as a master in the dying, yet still fascinating, craft of live deception", and the Irish Times drawing comparison’s to some of Magic’s biggest legends, writing that “Rua clearly has Derren Brown within his sights". Rua’s first Fringe Festival show was called ‘Of Rogues and Knaves' and explored the world of the card cheat, the hustler and the pick-pocket. His second show was ‘Secrets For Sale', which was co-written and co-produced by IFTA Nominated Paddy Courtney, and explored a story about a Magician who had decided to use his skills to swindle and con people out of their money. Told from a jail cell, this unique magic show blended audio and visual technology to create a compelling one-man show that utilised a lot of audience participation to bring it to a jaw-dropping climax. The latest show is currently in the writing phase, and will be taken on the road soon.
One of Rua’s proudest achievements to date was Co-Curating and Researching on Science Gallery Dublin’s largest summer exhibition to date, which was titled ‘ILLUSION: Nothing is as it seems‘. The exhibition ,which is now on a dual-tour of the world, explored the neuroscience and psychology of magic and illusion while combining art, science and performance. Throughout the 3 Month long exhibition, Rua Curated the events programme and also gave talks on the life of Houdini, as well as a talk on the skills utilised by Psychics to pray on vulnerable believers. The exhibition was extremely well received, and a visual idea of the featured pieces can be seen here.