If you’ve ever watched iCarly, Drake And Josh or the Twilight film series, chances are you’ve probably heard Annmarie Cullen’s compositions or playing. Or perhaps you’re familiar with Saucy Monky and their no-bullshit DIY approach. Now, the same Annmarie Cullen is about to appear in her own one-woman musical, Remember That Time?

“The play basically picks up when I’m at El Prat, the airport in Barcelona, with a one-way ticket to Dublin in my hand, ready to try to turn the ship around,” Cullen explains. “It references my time in LA and it’s got real-life footage to prove it. It’s about a middle-aged musician who hasn’t been in Ireland since she was about 24. She moves to LA and she kind of lives there – she’s doing well in TV placements, has a band and is very happy.

“The musician doesn’t have stratospheric success, but working is very much part of her life. She’s married to a beautiful woman, and over the years, the phone wasn’t as busy. She moves to Barcelona and decides to get a  job in tech, because the music industry had worn her down over the years with the dangling carrot. So yes, it’s heavily influenced by my personal life with a dose of fiction – not much! It’s an uplifting story.”

Throughout her career, of course, Cullen has brushed shoulders with some major names – among them Irish ones.

“We used to go to the International Bar,” she reflects. “Gemma Hayes would be there along with Naimee Coleman(who features in Remember that Time?), Paddy Casey, Damien Dempsey and Glen Hansard. I remember being dazzled by them all. But I remember being particularly dazzled by Mundy.”

Cullen describes the Offaly singer as “an Irish treasure”, and notes that he has contributed a song to Remember That Time? called ‘Your Ex’. The title of the song prompts further thoughts from Cullen.

Annmarie Cullen. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

“It’s so funny,” she chuckles, “I’ve got all my exes involved for the show! Cynthia Catania (of Saucy Monky) is doing sound. My ex-boyfriend – shocker! – he’s helping on the tech end as well. Another ex-girlfriend helped me edit the script, so I’ve got all the exes.”

Speaking of the propensity among queer people to remain friends post break-up, Annmarie Cullen says, “You can check out but you can never leave from each other’s life.”

Being comfortable in her queerness was something that came later in life for the songstress. “It took me a long time to come out,” she says. “I was in my mid-thirties. I was a late bloomer, but I think it was so liberating that it was not something I had to hide. If somebody sees my play, or other plays in the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, it’s such great representation. It helps give visibility which helps normalise things. Had I had that back in my twenties, it would have definitely helped my trajectory. Remember That Time? is a gay person telling her story. It’s authentic.

“Listeners know when it’s just a make-y up song, or when it’s something really derived from personal experience. You get the wins when they find parallels with what you’re saying about your life – that’s the goal.”  The parting gift Cullen wants viewers to take home from the play is a message from her current self to her former one.

“Everything you feel in your bones is true,” she says. “Whether it’s your relationship or job opportunities, if your inner voice has pause, trust that.”

• Remember That Time? runs from May 13-18 at Outhouse on Capel Street, as part of the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival.

Read Annmarie Cullen interview and more in our May issue of Hot Press: