Following a sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe and an Irish tour, Don’t Tell Dad About Diana comes to Underbelly Boulevard Soho for two nights only this May.
Named one of Rolling Stone’s 10 Standout Fringe Shows, Theatre Weekly’s Best LGBTQ+ Show of Edinburgh Fringe and nominated for the BBC writers’ Popcorn award, this limited run is not to be missed.
A queer coming-of-age story set in 1997 Dublin, it explores the tension between leaving home and staying to build something new, anchored in Power and Murray’s distinctive creative partnership and lived experience.
From deeply personal roots, Don’t Tell Dad About Diana is created by dynamic performers and real-life best friends Hannah Power and Conor Murray, and transfers to London following its critically acclaimed, sold-out Fringe debut. This celebrated, and award-winning piece of new writing is inspired by their own lives, friendship and questions of identity that have shaped them.
This high-energy comedy follows two Irish teenagers obsessed with Princess Diana, their patron saint of misfits. As they secretly prepare to compete for the crown of Alternative Miss Ireland with their outrageous Princess Diana drag act, they do so under the shadow of hardline nationalist families ahead of the Good Friday Agreement.
In a year marked by Ireland’s first gay kiss on Fair City, Eurovision on home soil, and Boyzone dominating the charts, the story explores friendship, identity and grief at the crossroads of adolescence, and the impact of mourning a cultural icon. But when Diana’s sudden death becomes a real-life tragedy, it begins to unravel their secret, their friendship, and their plans to leave Ireland.
The show reclaims nostalgic ’90s cultural memory through a working-class Irish and queer lens, placing queer voices at the heart of a defining cultural moment. Blending drag, melodrama, ceremonial flair and cinematic narration, it captures a city on the brink of change, from chokers for every mood to Spice Girls posters and the soundtrack of ‘Now That’s What I Call Music 38’.
Don’t Tell Dad About Diana is rooted in the creators’ lived experience. Both studied at Trinity College Dublin and trained in a London drama school, exploring questions of home, identity and belonging, and the tension between leaving and staying. Following performances at Dublin’s Scene + Heard Festival, Pleasance Theatre and Camden People’s Theatre, this London run promises a must-see return, exploring chosen family, distance and the unbreakable pull of home.
Following its wide critical acclaim, the show has already scooped the Fishamble New Writing Award 2025 at Dublin Fringe Festival and the Bewley’s Little Gem Award 2025, and was also shortlisted for the Holden Street Theatre Award 2025.
Don’t Tell Dad about Diana is playing at Underbelly Boulevard Soho on Tuesday, May 26, and Thursday, May 28 2026. Book Tickets.
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