Callum McGuire, Jonty Weston, Anna McCormick, and Ben Simon Photo by Carol Rosegg

To tell this tale, Red Fox Theatre Company turns the stage at 59E59 into a bare-bones Dingle Bay pub where four regulars gleefully welcome the audience and reenact the chain of events triggered one day in 1966, when Joe Welch, the skipper of a local fishing boat, makes an unusual catch. Upon reaching shore he and his crew are stunned to discover they have caught the first sturgeon to be seen in those waters in over 400 years. Welch is then outraged to learn that since a sturgeon is a "Royal Fish," it is supposed to be sent to the Queen. Instead, he offers it to Éamon de Valera, President of Ireland who, in turn, bestows the sturgeon upon the nuns of the Order of Poor Clares. Unfortunately, someone on the boat holds up the sturgeon for everyone to see, and there is... an accident. From there, things get ever increasingly and amusingly convoluted.

Playwright and director Megan Jenkins knows how to weave an engaging narrative and uses banter, parody, and folk singing to charm–and even inform–the audience while letting them laugh along with the whole absurd situation. Even when discussing Ireland's very troubled history and how it intersects with the Dingle sturgeon situation, Megan Jenkins never loses sight of the humor. No matter where events take us–a fishing boat, a convent, Windsor Castle, etc.–we are always at the pub in Dingle being captivated by people who are having as much of a ball relating this story as we are in watching it.

Naturally, this story needs good storytellers and this production does not stint on that skill. The four dynamic co-founders of Red Fox Theatre act as our friendly hosts: Jonty Weston (Paul), Anna McCormick (Elizabeth), Callum McGuire (Sean), and Ben Simon (Jamie)–and they truly own the stage. Whether they are merrily correcting one another, accompanying themselves in enjoyable Irish songs, eagerly enacting fishing folk, posing as some rather surreal nuns in a convent, or evoking Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, these delightful performers never miss a laugh or a chance to beguile the audience.

At a little over an hour in running time, Catch of the Day definitely leaves you wanting more and certainly makes the saga of the Dingle sturgeon a true yarn for the ages.