The first ever “BAFTUB” award, a kissing cactus, and a “Murder on the Dancefloor.” These were just some of the many highlights of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ opening night of their 175th production, Heist, Heist, Baby. But before the show began, the group honored their 2024 Man of the Year, Irish actor Barry Keoghan.
Keoghan is most known for his roles in films such as George Mills in Dunkirk, Druig in Eternals, and Dominic Kearney in The Banshees of Inisherin. Most recently, he received critical acclaim for his role as Oliver Quick in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, garnering nominations for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Best Actor award. On January 26th, 2024, Keoghan was announced as this year’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year. The Man of the Year is an annual honor presented by the organization to “performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.” Past recipients have included Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Robert Downey Jr.
The night began with a roast of Keoghan, led by HPT producers Hannah Frazer ’25 and Madison Pankey ’24. “I’ve been quite nervous all day,” Keoghan told the audience. “I’ve never been on stage.” The roast began with Keoghan using boxing gloves to “fight” a large potato, an allusion to the Irish potato famine. Then he acted out an impromptu script, which concluded with him dipping his face into a plate of spaghetti and marinara. He was presented with the “BAFTUB” award, a giant inflatable bathtub for Keoghan to sit in which members of Hasty Pudding Theatricals then jokingly drank out of. The act was a spoof of Keoghan’s infamous “bathtub scene” in Saltburn, in which (spoiler alert!) Keoghan’s character drinks the bathwater of his friend Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi.
“Barry was awesome,” Frazer said in regards to Keoghan’s completion of the roast. “He was extremely gracious and had a wonderful sense of humor. Roasting him was an even better time—we had so much fun on stage and felt so lucky to be able to wipe spaghetti off his face.”
Following the roast, Keoghan appeared in a press conference. At the head of the table, Keoghan was accompanied by costumed Hasty Pudding Theatricals members Mira-Rose Kingsbury Lee ’24 and Fred Larsen ’24, as well as Press and Publicity Manager Chaelon Simpson ’26. Simpson said that “it felt absolutely incredible” to sit with Keoghan and experience the night the way he did. “You never know when interacting with celebrities what their personality would be, but Barry is so incredibly down to Earth,” he said. “I had a chance to meet him before the press conference and through that I was able to immediately get rid of my nerves. He’s one of the most genuine (and funny) people I’ve met, no joke!”
Keoghan answered questions from the press about his acting career, the Man of the Year event, and coming to Harvard. He felt privileged to be named this year’s Man of the Year. “To see all the names that were before me…it’s such an honor, isn’t it? It really is,” Keoghan explained. While he initially felt nervous to go up on stage, his feelings washed away upon experiencing the event. “When I got up there, there was a bit of a high to it. I don’t do stage [but] I’m gonna do some stage now,” he joked.
Keoghan was also asked about his background and journey into acting. Keoghan had a rough childhood—he and his brother were placed into foster care at a young age, as he had no relationship with his father and his mother struggled with addiction. Though Keoghan did not finish school, he realized early on that acting was something he could be good at, and he decided to follow these dreams. “Do what you love, and don’t let anyone put a dim light on it,” Keoghan said, giving advice to young people, especially those who come from troubled backgrounds like his own, pursuing acting.
The Independent asked Keoghan how his experience has been since arriving at Harvard Square and what it was like getting ready for the big night. “I automatically feel more intelligent being here,” he said, leading to a laugh from the room. “[My experience] has been great. The welcome is just unreal; seeing everyone out there and getting to enjoy that has been amazing, and getting to be part of that show that everyone has worked hard on, I feel involved. The experience has been really good so far.”
Keoghan sat in the middle of the theater and attended the show, accompanied by Pankey and Frazer. Heist, Heist, Baby featured a colorful array of devious characters in glittering, kaleidoscopic costumes. The protagonist, Rita L’Boutette, played by Isabella Peña ’24, is a hungry, small-town journalist hankering for her big break. She infiltrates an exclusive museum gallery opening attended by Manhattan’s elite, which debuted the anonymous artist Spanksy and his work. Rita hopes her discoveries will land her a coveted position at the Small Street Journal. Little does she know, the VIPs have their own agendas.
The geriatric fracking tycoon Cassius Whatimafter and his dazzling young wife Eileen Onyoufinancially are in attendance, along with Holden Outhopeforyou-Girl, Cassius’s teenage pop star grandson. There is also Eli Zaboutizage, a fourth grader who seems suspiciously old, Arthur Bonesburiedhere, a lonely paleontologist desperate to find his lost fossil, and Alec Zis, a smooth-talking art critic who was Rita’s college crush.
During this fateful night at the museum, there is much scheming to be witnessed. A maniacal ghost queen, Helga Tboring, is on the loose and having an existential crisis. Mischa Nimpossible, a former Soviet spy, and Mel O’Dramatic, a struggling television star, are also sneaking around on a dubious mission.
The show featured sassy dialogue, dramatic dance sequences, and comedic one-liners. The humor is hammy, quick-witted, and camp. The production concludes with a classic Hasty Pudding Theatricals ending, involving the entire cast in elaborate song and dance choreography. The audience reception was riotous and adoring.
Simpson was proud to see the night officially come together, as he got to see the company’s hard work pay off firsthand. “It has been a huge pleasure being able to see the show from behind the scenes. Last year, I watched Cosmic Relief and was so impressed by the Theatricals’ work,” he said. “Everyone is so hard working, and the cohesiveness between the multiple parts of the company is only strengthened by the amount of labor and love put into this project.”
Frazer was incredibly proud of her team and the work they put in to make the show happen. “Organizing the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year event truly takes a village,” she said. “Our Business Staff and entire company has worked really hard to make this possible. Even though it was hectic, it was truly so rewarding to watch the event come to fruition.”
Heist, Heist, Baby is completely student written, with writers Sophie Garrigus ’25 and Madeleine Dowd ’25, composer William Murray ’26, and Kingsbury Lee as Principal Lyricist. For those interested in seeing it, the show will be running in Cambridge from February 2nd to March 3rd, in New York on March 9th, and in Bermuda from March 13th to 15th. Tickets for HPT 175 can be purchased at https://www.hastypudding.org/buy-tickets/.
Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu) intensely related to Rita, a starving journalist looking for her big break. Kya Brooks ’25 (kyabrooks@college.harvard.edu) was inspired to attend a high-stakes art gallery opening by any means necessary.