A packed Billy Byrnes pub on John Street saw over 60 of Kilkenny’s theatre going public come together for the launch of the forthcoming production of Shirley Valentine being staged by Lake Productions.
Founding member of the troupe, Emily Kelly praised the work of Clare Gibbs, who plays the role of Shirley and Mary Cradock who directs this enthralling production. Last staged at the Home Rule club in 2024, Emily told The Kilkenny Observer that many people failed to see the show due to it being sold out. “In a way, it took us by surprise at how quickly our first outing with Shirley sold out,” said Emily. “However, such has been the call to restage it, that we are now running it for four performances at the Thomastown Concert Hall in March.”
Addressing the gathering at Byrnes, production manager Dee Gibney explained that it was all systems go, with Clare and Mary busily rehearsing this Willy Russell play.
Tour de force
Reminiscing on the previous production, Dee said that people were blown away by the talent and energy shown by Clare Gibbs. “From the moment the curtain went up, Clare had the audience in the palm of her hand, and she was just a tour de force,” said Dee.
Committee member Geoff Rose recounted some fabulous one person shows that were performed down the years in Kilkenny, explaining that playwright Russell was tapping into the oldest form of storytelling in the world of theatre, the one woman/man solo performance. “Here in Kilkenny the tradition has been carried on for the past 40 years by ‘The Man from Kilmanagh’, Jim Maher, who has kept the spirit of the tradition alive with his storytelling stories and musical interludes,” explained Geoff.
In the late 1960s the actor Michael Mac Liammoir celebrated the work of Oscar Wilde with his solo show The Importance of Being Oscar, to worldwide audiences, and Marie Kean (Mrs Kennedy, from the radio serial The Kennedys of Castleross) scripted by Hugh Leonard, brought her one woman show Soft Morning City to the Friary Hall Kilkenny.
During one of the many summer theatre seasons held in Kilkenny in the 1980s, local actor Ann Aylward (née Hurley), presented her own one-woman show I Remember It Well, as well as Heno Magee’s Red Biddy, and one of Kilkenny’s finest male actors Donal O Brien, performed Myles na gCopaleen’s The Brother to great acclaim for local audiences. In recent years, Kilkenny man Jimmy Rhatigan’s tribute to the poet and novelist Patrick Kavanagh, Where Old Ghosts Meet, adapted for stage by Geoff Rose has been successfully performed here in Kilkenny.
Experience
Lake Productions staging of Shirley Valentine, the story of a middle-aged housewife whose life is transformed after a holiday in Greece, will not be the first time they have staged a solo show having previously produced After Sarah Miles by Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, performed by Michael Hayes and directed by Mary Cradock.
This production of Shirley Valentine will feature the vastly experienced Clare Gibbs in the role of Shirley with Mary Cradock once again taking on the role of director. Clare Gibbs has soldiered in the world of theatre for many years and her experience in stage craft shines through in her performance. As an actor she has appeared with Watergate Productions in such shows as Scrooge, The Wizard of Oz, Circles of Life, Lend Me A Tenor and The Loves Of Cass McGuire. She has also appeared with Watergate Productions in many of their Pantomimes and Same Old Moon with the New Theatre Group. Clare has also been one of the people involved in costume design for various production companies. She is currently a committee member of Lake Productions and has appeared with them in War of the Worlds and Moll. More recently, Clare was a cast member of Letters from the Front with Cloud 9 Productions performing at The Watergate Kilkenny, The O’Reilly Theatre Dublin, and The George Bernard Shaw Theatre Carlow.
Director
Direction is in the very capable hands of Mary Cradock. Mary has a wonderful record with Kilkenny Theatre, having served as actor, committee member of various groups and of course director.
As a performer she has appeared in such shows as The Country Boy, Sive, Juno and the Paycock, Death of a Salesman, Moll. With Watergate Productions she directed The Cripple of Inishmaan, Lend me a Tenor, The Kings of The Kilburn High Road, Buskin -the musical, Scrooge -the musical and a youth production of Les Miserables.
From 2011 to 2017 Mary wrote and directed four children’s Christmas shows which attracted thousands of school goers. For Lake Productions Mary directed After Sarah Miles and War of The Worlds. Mary was part of the 4 radio documentaries on Irish authors written and directed by Lake Productions in association with The Involvement Centre and Community Radio Kilkenny City.
Shirley Valentine runs at Thomastown Concert Hall from March 12 to 15.
Tickets available from Emily on 083 325 0617 or online at Eventbrite.
