Veteran of twenty Edinburgh Festivals, Perrier Nominated stand-up comic, poet, award winning playwright and actor, co-star in the three biggest theatrical hits in fringe history, 12 Angry Men, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The odd Couple, Owen O'Neill penned a new, uncompromising, deeply powerful play for the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe.

Acclaimed for his brilliant monologues such as Off My Face and It Was Henry Fonda's Fault, O'Neill teamed up with Rachel O'Riordan - director of 2003's solo smash hit Hurricane with Richard Dormer.

We can't really tell you what it is about because that would spoil the coup de theatre, but it was inspired by "possibly true" events. Rest assured O'Neill pulls no punches with his latest, perhaps most controversial work.

Taking his subject matter and feeding it through the wringer, O'Neill challenges all in his wake. He'll make you squirm. He'll make you cringe... but mostly he'll make you sit up and take note.

Absolution is a truly unforgettable experience.

This play is a one hander but manages to hold the audience's attention on almost every word and movement by the actor. It is a difficult subject, one the Catholic Church would rather go away.
Alas, it seems to plague the Church with outbreaks around the world. Owen O'Neill deals with child abuse, an understatement of the horrific ordeals perpetrated on children by priests, by becoming an avenging angel, meting out justice when long overdue. If God has turned a blind eye, someone had to end these abominations.
This show is Owen O'Neill's seventh productions that he has written and performed. He is a passionate and consummate actor. He never misses a beat, never wastes a motion nor fails to deliver a stunning narrative that rises and falls with each execution. Working in a stark set, O'Neill swings through a wide range of emotions. The stage set and design often convey a sense of prison where we wonder if O'Neill has been jailed after all for his crimes. But, are they really crimes or preventive acts?
The story has a neat twist at the end, not all together surprising, but welcomed. While the audience was sparse, this show should be seen by many. It is a difficult subject handled well. It is certainly Fringe First materials. Don't miss it!
KN (fringereview.com 01/08/08)

In this day and age of political correctness and the uproar surrounding the Catholic Church and alleged child abuse I suppose it is not surprising that we have a play on the Fringe round this topic.
Priests are dying in very nasty ways or are just plainly disappearing. "Peter knows why and wants to tell all". Is he a madman or does he really know something? This is a very dark almost dismal production with pockets of humour, some of which seem almost forbidden or wrong. The basic room we are looking at could be in any institution or even a prison it is so bare and stern. The single occupant of the room awakens from sleep slowly gets dressed then describes the deaths of several Priests in graphic and physical details. With one final revelation that is as startling as it is unexpected.
I know Owen O'Neill is a comedian but I have only seen his stand-up once. He is also a multi award-winning writer and actor he has both written and performs 'Absolution' which displays all his talents to their utmost. Cleverly directed by Rachel O'Riordan, whom I expect had her work cut out, having to direct Owen from whose imagination the whole thing came. It is also part of this years TTI & Guy Masterson Productions.
Praise where praise is due I would never have thought of this material as producing a fascinating, thought provoking yet funny show but it has. Owen puts 200% into the performance and must be exhausted after every show. I certainly recommend it as one to see along with 'Reasonable Doubt', 'Weights' and 'Vincent'. I have also heard great things about 'Scaramouche Jones'.
Sheila Jack (one4review.com 07/08/08)

From its shock opening to a really unexpected final twist, Absolution held every member of a packed house enthralled and eager to hear what happens next to an unnamed protagonist.
Like John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, this perfectly paced, one-man play performed by the author, goes to places that many would prefer to ignore, especially the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
Dressed in unflattering underwear in what is apparently a prison cell, our man first describes a castration and murder to get his audience in the mood for much more.
As the hour develops a pattern, this seeming psychopath talks in graphic detail of more and more gory murders, gradually donning his clothes as he does so.
Amazingly, when this ginger-haired Irishman asks the question as to whether we should see him as a serial killer or an avenging angel the answer is indisputably both.
O'Neill questions our views on religion and morality by focussing on a stream of priests who heartlessly abused children as young as six, protected by the banner of the Church and hide behind the "secret, sacramental, confessional shield".
This is a topical subject and Absolution will not be the last word. However, it will be one of the most powerful and considered plays about a tragedy that far too many, like the protagonist's father, would still prefer was ignored.
Philip Fisher (British Theatre Guide 06/08/08)

IT'S hard to believe that writer/performer of this one-man show, Owen O'Neill, is a Perrier nominated stand-up. So bleak and brutal is his vivid script, and so violently commanding the delivery that O'Neill at times is terrifying.
He portrays a man who has dished himself the "avenging angel" task of meting out justice to child-abusing Catholic priests. With relentless detail, O'Neill recounts the various grim accounts of their crimes and punishments, whilst the audience are left to form their own judgement on his particular method of justice.
The subject matter makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing throughout but, perhaps not unlike his character, O'Neill has found his own way of dealing with an issue that sorely needs examining.
Lucy Ribchester (The Evening News 09/08/08)

Absolution delves into one of the most controversial topics of our era: abuse perpetrated by ordained members of the Roman Catholic Church.
It presents the fictionalised testimony of one man's reaction to such acts, chronicling the murder of five priests all guilty of abusing children.
This un-named character is played by Owen O'Neill, who also wrote the hour-long monologue. He presents the audience with a complex character. There is no sidestep into background or unnecessary commentary; instead, he spends the entire time simply detailing each murder. Shades of the character reveal themselves throughout the hour, but the focus primarily remains on the 'why' and 'how' this man came to take each life.
The production's greatest asset is that it doesn't try to be anything other than a dramatisation of an individual's statement. There is no directorial commentary and the writing doesn't give the audience any easy answers or excuses. The audience must take every word and action depicted and come up with their own interpretation.
In fact, it is completely up to the audience to decide whether the character deserves absolution or not. Whether you believe every word of the story and whether you see the character as a serial killer or an avenging angel is entirely up to each person. The production takes a great risk in trusting the audience to do all of the work. It is a risk that pays off.
O'Neill is to be commended for both his acting and writing. The piece is always riveting without being sensationalised or overdramatic. There is enough evidence to allow the audience to reach any conclusion it wants to draw. The character is also not a black/white incarnation; he's sincere enough to be sympathetic but violent enough to be feared.
Director Rachel O'Riordan has the difficult task of dramatising a production that must not look dramatised. O'Neill's work requires a mostly naturalistic setting, which is exactly what she has achieved. Slight sound and lighting effects are used mostly to highlight the actual killings, but O'Riordan still finds ways of balancing the stage, allowing the character to slowly evolve throughout the performance.
Upon leaving the theatre, I overheard an audience member tell his partner 'Every Festival, there's always 'The One'!" With its intelligence, highly literate script, compelling performance and blatant challenge to the audience, Absolution may in fact be this year's 'One'.
Michael Cox (On Stage Scotland 13/08/08)