For now, it’s all in high gear. Lines are being polished,
blocking is being finalised, props are being begged, stolen, and borrowed-never-to-be-returned.
Nerves are tingling (that may be just me) and stresses are moderate with a
forecast of higher to come.
Yes, folks, it’s rehearsal time again. For the third year
running, Castlebar Musical and Dramatic Society have asked me if I could offer
a play for their annual fundraiser two night run. At the start of the year, I
wasn’t sure I could manage it, given that I couldn’t even manage to work my legs or hands
terribly well. But things have got better and here we are, new play, brilliant
new director, fabulous cast, amazing singers, and we stand ready to entertain
you once again… if you will let us.
These theatre evenings are fundraisers for the CMDS annual musical production and I can’t help but take some quiet pride that last year’s two sold out nights might have helped in some small way to teleport the Society to the dizzying awards achievements of this year’s show.
Their stunning production of ‘We Will Rock You’ garnered
8 AIMS National Award Nominations, which
resulted in Chris McLaughlin winning Best Male Singer, Caoimhe Halligan winning
Best Female Singer and nominations for - Best Director: Donna Ruane, Best
Visual, Best Technical, Best Choral Singing,
Best Ensemble and, of course, Best Overall Show
And I think I might have helped a little. Now I get to think I might help again.
My newest and possibly my best play, Achill Sound, will have
its World Premiere on Thursday 1st October at our beloved Linenhall
Arts Centre, we will do it all again on Friday 2nd October and then
go to the pub, which might be even better than a World Premiere. You choose.
I approached my bucket-list of actors for this play to take part in it
and, jammy git that I am, they said yes. There are a number of great people who I
couldn’t squeeze into the action this year (you know who you are). Just know
that I love you like family and will be rattling my brain for ways that we can
get into rooms together again soon. But, for this year, we have Donna Ruane,
Eamon Smith, Vivienne Lee, Ronan Egan, Eithne McGrail and Eimear Philbin. I mean…
come on!
As if that wasn't enough, three of CMDS’ very best singers
have each agreed to perform a song as part of the evening. Each of the songs
mean something to me personally and each of the songs will also slide into the
play in some strange and obtuse way. But, before that last part happens, Caoimhe Halligan,
Ewa Cieślak,
and Nicole Scott will sing the songs live. I, for one, can’t wait.
And then we have Kenn.
In previous years, I have generally directed the plays myself,
always and forever with the amazing support and experience of Donna Ruane, who
directed so many of my plays over the years. But these events are Donna’s
chance to do some actual acting (which she loves to do ‘cos she’s great at it).
She does plenty of directing all through the rest of the year as we know (Best Director
nomination, see above).
But this year we all have Kenn. Have I mentioned him?
Kenn McLaughlin has come to live among us here in Castlebar
and he has arrived, from Houston, Texas, with decades of experience and success
in the Theatre World. Kenn is our director this year, allowing Donna to focus
on her performance and me to stop pretending I know what I’m doing.
Kenn attended the previous two years productions and, thanks
to some kind matchmaking from Eamon Smith, we three got to sit down together over multiple
coffees and talk theatre. And, out of that, under their encouragement, Achill
Sound, a fledgling script before we all met, has grown some wings and is
getting ready to dive right off the cliff on October 1st. Kenn is
the kindest, most life-affirming fella and I recommend you all have coffee with
him as soon as possible. The care and consideration he has brought to the rehearsal
room (as well as a reassuringly firm hand) has been something to see and I’m glad
they've let me in to see it.
Add to this heady brew Deirdre Lee on Music Direction,
George Bernard Gallagher on Production for The Linenhall, all of the Linenhall
Staff, Sandra and Declan Gibbons on Stage Management and (where on earth would we be without her?) Anne Marie Gibbons on Everything Else.
But what of the play, Ken. Why ‘Achill Sound’ and will the
people of Achill ever speak to you again after it has been on? Well, I hope so.
I love Achill for the magical place it undoubtedly is and that place and this title
has been ringing around in my head for the best part of fifteen years now. If some of the things that happen during the play aren't entirely salubrious, well, that’s
no fault of any real people. It’s all down to those slightly odd folk who continually live
in my head, rent free.
I don’t want to say too much about what happens in the play.
I’d rather you come along for the ride on either the Thursday or the Friday. I
think I can say that whatever else it is, it won’t be boring. In previous years
I have been pleased to make you, the lovely audience, laugh a little. I’ve even managed, to my unending delight, to make some of you cry a little. This year, I rather hope to add an extra reaction into the mix. I want to try
to make your jaw drop a little and I want you to maybe mutter quietly to
yourself, ‘Did they really say that?’ or ‘Are they really going to do that?’
What I will say is that the play tells the story of one woman
who drives around alone in deepest Mayo carrying-out a survey on Rural Isolation
who one day meets someone with the potential to change her life forever. I hope
the play ends up having a little to say about the potential loneliness of some
rural lives and I hope it has even more to say, in my own deeply unexperienced
way, about how challenging it can sometimes be to be a professional woman in the
year 2026. But mostly I just hope it entertains you in all those ways I mentioned
above.
Achill Sound, a Castlebar Musical and Dramatic Society Production and Fundraiser, (in association with Big Splash Productions) will be at the Linenhall Arts Centre on the 1st and 2nd October 2026. Booking on www.thelinenhall.com or 094 90 23733.
People are generally very kind and supportive of our creative endeavours so please, if you’d like to see it, book very soon.
In three weeks it will be all over...
Eek!
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