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Tag: Theatre

  • The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 114 // Shane Dempsey, Director, the Non Stop Connolly Show

    The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 114 // Shane Dempsey, Director, the Non Stop Connolly Show

    The London Ear on RTE 2XM Show 114

    On this week’s episode, I was delighted to be able to chat to theatre director, Shane Dempsey, who is the man in charge of the Finborough Theatre production of The Non Stop Connolly Show. The full show is 14 hours long, yes, 14 hours. Mental! Shane tells all!

    1. The London Ear Intro
    2. Plutonic Dust: Eskimo Kiss
    3. Mystery Jets: Bubblegum
    4. Yeasayer: Silly Me
    5. Barq: Gentle Kind of Lies
    6. Kendrick Lemar: Untitled 06
    7. Young Folk: First Sign of Morning
    8. Chat with Shane Dempsey, Director of Non Stop Connolly Show (Part 1)
    9. Alex Brabbins: Opening Music from Non Stop Connolly
    10. Chat with Shane Dempsey, Director of Non Stop Connolly Show (Part 1)
    11. Kiernan McMullan: I Stayed The Same
    12. August Wells:Here in the Wild
    13. Rosanango Family: Lights On
    14. Mura Masa feat Bonzai: What If I Go?

    Shane Dempsey - Theatre director
    Theatre Director Shane Dempsey

    Thanks for listening, The London Ear broadcast on DAB radio, Saorview and outside Ireland you can listen online.You can listen to the show again on the RTE player. The show is broadcast every Saturday at 1300.

    Don’t forget to check out the RTE 2XM website. You can keep up with me here.

    Check out The London Ear on Facebook and Twitter

    You can follow Shane Dempsey on Twitter.

    Don’t forget to check out the Non Stop Connolly Show at the Finborough Theatre. Check out the production on Twitter

    You can also listen on mixcloud or in the widget below.

    the-non-stop-connolly-show-main
    The Non Stop Connolly Show
  • Review // The Commitments at The Palace Theatre, London

    Review // The Commitments at The Palace Theatre, London

    TheCommitments

    Tuesday June 9 2015 –  *Contains spoilers*

    I’ve never read the book but I do remember the first time I saw the film. I saw it in Navan, Co. Meath in the Lyric Cinema on Brewers Hill. At the time, many people could relate to it in Ireland. Unemployment was rife, it was pre-mobile phones, if you didn’t see your mates, you could always meet them down on the dole queue on a Tuesday. Alan Parker’s 1991 film captured it perfectly.

    That’s the way Ireland was and The Commitments, combined with a fantastic soundtrack, summed what everyone felt. We all wanted to escape. Fast forward, twenty four years, I live in London and I go to see the stage show in The Palace Theatre.

    Director Jamie Lloyd does pack a punch with his production and once the curtain raises, the first reaction is Wow! The ‘Barrytown’ high rise flats aka Ballymun (5 minutes walk from where I lived in D11 in Dublin) is recreated on stage in different levels. Different parts of the flats pull out to reveal the Rabbite household and the local pub are cleverly pushed back to create the square in the centre of all the flats. The Rabbitte household is really well executed with the front room, stairs and Jimmy’s bedroom all on show.

    You can’t beat a bit of Dublin humour and The Commitments provides that. It’s impossible to recreate everything from a book or film and at the beginning of the show, it feels a little rushed to get to a certain point in the story by a certain time. But this adds to the comic feel. The laughs are there as well as the ‘Say it once, say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud’ line. I’m always going to compare this to the film, there’s no way around it. It’s a little disappointing that the love triangle / square between Joey the Lips and the three Commitmentettes isn’t drawn out a little more. Unfortunately this leads to Joey not being the smarmy git he is in the 1991 film. The authenticity of Dublin life is kept intact. The stage show remains true to Dubspeak in all it’s fucking glory.

    But The Commitments is all about the music and it doesn’t fail to disappoint, although a couple of the big songs from the film are placed at the end of the stage show. If you like your soul music, you’ll be in heaven. It’s loud, it’s in your face and the energy from the stage is just electric. Heaven knows how they managed to do it eight times a week. Denis Grindel excels as the slightly cocky band manager, Jimmy Rabbitte. Brian Gilligan commands the stage with his vocal performance as front man and nutter, Deco. However, it’s a pity The Commitmentettes don’t get more time to shine, they’ve bloody good voices.

    Overall it’s a great night’s entertainment, the set is fantastic and I couldn’t help but laugh my bag off at the ‘Heroine Kills’ banner in the community centre, ‘The Hot Press journalist’ and ‘Eejit Records’. These people are speaking in my tongue. It’s Dublin through and through, a little rough round the edges but ye love it to bits.

    *Keep an eye out for ticket deals, we got ours for £20 each and our seats we upgraded when we got to the theatre. Nice work!

  • Culture Café #8 // Conal Morrison // Director of Borstal Boy at The Gaiety

    Culture Café #8 // Conal Morrison // Director of Borstal Boy at The Gaiety

    This post originally appeared on CultureCafePodcast.com

    On this week’s podcast I had the pleasure of speaking to Conall Morrison (Centre), director of Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy which has a run in The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.

    When I asked Conall if he had a website where people could keep an eye on his work, he said that he never really wanted to get a website together because as a Theatre Director and writer, you’re only as good as the work that is currently on stage. So, the best way to find out about his work is to head to The Gaiety and see for yourself!

    Borstal Boy is in The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin until October 11 2014.

    You can get tickets from Ticketmaster

    Here’s the blurb to go with the Production:

    For the first time in 25 years, Brendan Behan’s BORSTAL BOY returns to Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre from 11 September for a strictly limited engagement. The critically acclaimed and commemorative play marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Brendan Behan (20th March 1964) and tells the story of the legendary Irish author.

    Starring Peter Coonan (Love/Hate, What Richard Did, Quirke) and Gary Lydon (Calvary, The Guard, War Horse) as the younger and older Brendan Behan.

    Tickets from €24.50 including booking fee on sale now from Ticketmaster outlets and The Gaiety Theatre box office.

    The production of Borstal Boy was adapted for the stage by Frank McMahon, directed by Conall Morrison, produced by Donal Shiels with executive producer The Gaiety Theatre.

    Dublin born Peter Coonan is best known for his role as Frano in RTÉ’s acclaimed drama series Love/Hate, for which he won an IFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Drama (2014). His most recent credits include a lead role in Brendan Grant’s forthcoming feature Get Up And Go, and series 4 of Love/Hate. His film and TV credits also include Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did and the BBC miniseries Quirke.

    Gary Lydon was born in London but later moved to his father’s hometown of Wexford. He went on to make his London debut in 1988 playing Jimmy Brady in A Handful of Stars (1993) (TV), and went on to perform in Billy Roche’s Wexford Trilogy on stage and television. His film credits include Calvary, War Horse, The Last September, Ordinary Decent Criminal and television credits include RTE’s The Clinic and Pure Mule.
    Director Connal Morrison is from Armagh and is one of Ireland’s leading theatre directors. He is well known for his work with The Abbey Theatre, The Lyric Belfast, National Theatre UK and numerous independent theatres and companies in Ireland and the UK. He has also written three plays.

    Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of explosives. Borstal Boy is the autobiographical record of Behan’s experiences from that day through to his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England were called Borstal Institutions, and Behan’s account of his years as a “BorstalBoy” is told in vigorous and dramatic prose. It tells the vivid memoir of his time in Hollesley Bay Borstal, Sulfolk, England. His daughter, Blanaid Walker recently, said ‘In a way he was lucky to end up in a borstal…. The governor was like a principal and encouraged the boys to rise up out of poverty that many had been born into.’

    LISTINGS INFORMATION
    Theatre: The Gaiety Theatre, South King Street, Dublin 2
    Performances: From 11 September for a strictly limited engagement
    Prices: Tickets from €24.50 including booking fee
    Times: 7:30pm evening, 3pm Matinee (Wednesday & Saturday)
    Previews: 11/12/ 13/15th September. All preview seats €24.50
    Opens Tuesday 16th September

    Tickets
    www.ticketmaster.ie | 24hr booking line: 0818719388 (Republic of Ireland)
    Group sales: (01) 648 6029
    Wheelchair/Box booking: (01) 6795622
    In person: Gaiety Theatre Box Office, South King Street, Dublin 2.

  • Fancy joining a drama group? La Touche Players want you!

    Fancy joining a drama group? La Touche Players want you!

    It’s the time of year to throw yourself into something new! Why not get involved with a drama group? La Touche Players. I got this from La Touche Players and I thought I’d pass it on. If it’s something you’d like to try out why not head down to The Teachers Club on January 10th and see what’s going on?! They’re a nice bunch, I promise!

    La Touche Players Members Night.docx