Fresh on the heels of a One-Act Season at Visual, Carlow on 2nd and 3rd October 2024,
and ahead of a major full-length production of Da at the same Venue less than two weeks later, Carlow Little Theatre Society presents two new One-Act plays by acclaimed Carlow author and playwright, Barry McKinley.
His plays 3 KINGS, and WATERMARK will be performed at The Home Rule Club (Barnstorm Theatre Studio), Kilkenny, at 8pm, on Saturday 5th October 2024.
Tickets are €15 and can be purchased via eventbrite or the adjacent link: https://shorturl.at/7XwSV
3 Kings is set against the backdrop of a wintry Montana. Three convicts plan to break out of a penitentiary by scaling a Christmas tree and jumping the prison wall. Things don’t go according to plan during the breakout.
The men realise that everything has changed and their ‘heroic’ escape on Christmas Eve has turned into a murder ballad. Only two men will survive in this frozen backcountry. But which two?
3 Kings keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, shifting seamlessly between laughter and heartfelt drama as the escaped convicts try to affect their escape and navigate the difficulties of life on the run.
The cast features: Jamie Dockery as Mover, Paul Dunne as J.I, Paul McManus as Big Boy and Paddy O’Byrne as the Guard. Directed by Deirdre Fleming. Running time: Approximately 35 minutes.
Also on the bill for the evening is Watermark, which follows the journey of Maura, an enigmatic Irishwoman who arrives in London during the 1950s. Confronted with a dire illness, Maura resolves to live each day as if it were her last. Her quest leads her into the shadowy corners of West London’s demi-monde, where she encounters a peculiar celebrity known only as the Old Beast. This man, marked by his serpent-headed walking cane and his unsettling fondness for silkworms, offers to grant Maura’s wish—but with a chilling condition. “I want to hold something young and watch it die,” he tells her. “I want to squeeze the spark until it becomes a cinder.” At the heart of the story is Maura’s response to this dark request. And lest you think her words are those of an old woman dreaming, Maura has something to show you—something that still carries the aroma of a bygone era and proof that the devil can be beaten at his own game. Featuring Deirdre Fleming as Maura.
Directed by Barry McKinley. Running time: Approximately 15 minutes.
Barry McKinley
Barry McKinley has spent a large chunk of his life travelling and working in different parts of the globe; London, Paris, Sydney and Los Angeles; he spent a dozen years in New York City before returning to Ireland with his wife and twin sons in 2006. His plays have been performed in the US, UK, and Continental Europe.
He has written for the BBC and RTÉ and was nominated for Best New Play at the Irish Theatre Awards (Elysium Nevada) in 2010.
His stories were twice shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award and his novel, A Ton of Malice, was published in 2017 by Old Street Publishing (UK). A Ton of Malice is a chronicle of chaos from the late 1970’s when McKinley, a young punk at the time, worked for British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.
He is currently working on two new novels: Rainy Town and Manhattan Lovers.
CLTS performing on the 2024 All-Ireland, One Act Festival circuit
Less than a week later, Carlow Little Theatre begin their All-Ireland, One Act Festival circuit run with
‘3 Kings’, a new play written by acclaimed Carlow author and playwright, Barry McKinley, which will be directed by Deirdre Fleming.
The play will embark on what the society hopes will be a successful festival circuit run at 5 festivals, and eventual qualification for the finals in Naas in early December.
The five festivals are:
Goresbridge, Kilkenny – Friday, 25th October
Bangor, Down – Saturday, 26th October
Tallaght, Dublin – Friday, 1st November
Carrigallen, Leitrim – Sunday, 17th November
Tubbercurry, Sligo – Saturday 23rd November
The society returns to George Bernard Shaw theatre later with Hugh Leonard’s, hilarious, Tony-award winning memory play, Da.
Da explores the relationship of Charlie, a successful playwright, with his adoptive father. In this semi-autobiographical play set in 1960s Dublin, we find Charlie in his childhood home just after Da’s funeral.
While he sorts through his father’s things, he is visited by Da’s ghost, who stubbornly refuses to leave the house or his son’s mind. As Charlie revisits his past, we get to share in the tender, frustrating and very funny moments that defined the complex relationship between father and son. Winner of the 1978 Tony Award for Best Play, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Play.
This will be the second time the society has produced ‘Da’, having also done so in 1996, when it performed at the now defunct Bridewell Lane Theatre. Audiences may remember John Brady giving a memorable performance in the titular role, with Paddy Behan playing the role of Charlie. This time, Paddy will be in the director’s chair, with Rory Moran playing the role of Da, Garry McHugh as Charlie, the return of multi-award winning, legendary Little Theatre actress Jo O’Donovan to our stage in the role of Mother, joined by a talented cast of Scott Cooper, Evan McCormack, Paddy O’Byrne, Pauline Hayes and Zoë Hayden. Set design is by Tadgh McSweeney, with lighting by Ann Nolan. Da is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd.
