By David O’Brien (Kilkenny Observer)
In 2018, a chance meeting between Seamus Quigley from Thomastown Concert Hall and Ger Cody from Lake Productions set the ball rolling for a great theatrical relationship.
The week prior to this, Ger Cody and Emily Kelly had met and hatched a plan to form a new theatre company in Kilkenny, very much with the idea of catering for community theatre. Both Kelly and Cody had a deep love for theatre, and both had been involved with Watergate Productions, which, as the name would suggest, was based at the Parliament Street venue. When Mr Cody retired as artistic director at the Watergate, the planting of a new theatrical seed seemed an obvious move. This week, the Kilkenny Observer met up with Seamus Quigley to ask of his memory of the meeting.
Kings
Seamus remembered first approaching Lake Productions in 2019 and asking if they would stage The Kings of the Kilburn High Road in Thomastown. Seamus takes up the story: “The request was met in the affirmative. The production was a huge success, both for the company and ourselves here at the Concert Hall.”
This was soon followed by JB Keane’s Moll, which was again deemed a roaring success. The production of Da by Hugh Leonard was staged in 2024, building even further the great bond between Lake and the Concert Hall. The last production at the Concert Hall was Shirley Valentine (with Clare Gibbs as Shirley and Mary Cradock as director), producing an absolute gem of a production,” said Seamus.
And now, Lake Productions are set to return to Thomastown with a production of The Weir by Conor McPherson.
The Weir is a poignant, one-act drama set in a remote Irish pub, where local men share haunting folklore and personal tales with a newcomer, Valerie. As the night unfolds, the men’s stories of ghosts and local mysteries shift to a deeper, more personal tone when Valerie reveals a tragic, real-life story of her own loss, transforming the group’s light-hearted, competitive banter into an intimate, empathetic, and profoundly moving experience.
Great Venues
Mr Quigley continued by saying that anyone who read Peter Farrelly’s book 600 Years of Theatre in Kilkenny will know that stage shows are nothing new to Kilkenny. The city and county are well catered for as far as theatre is concerned, and venues such as the Watergate, Hole in the Wall, Cleere’s, Barnstorm’s studio space, Ryan’s and Billy Byrne’s are great examples of top-class venues.
“Likewise,” said Seamus, “we here at Thomastown are delighted to widen the theatrical net and offer our space as an option to stage various types of shows.”
“We are proud to present theatre shows for adults and also for the younger audience, with film work now also part and parcel of what we offer. The introduction of music in our annual programme has an audience from near and far travelling to our town.”
Apart from their artistic programme, the physical look of the Thomastown Concert Hall venue, including the painting of the front of the premises, continues to improve. Their promise at Thomastown when they began their journey was to promote and grow the venue, which is now bearing fruit, and they will continue to enhance the programme with quality productions.
Seamus concluded the meeting with the Observer by praising the efforts of the volunteer staff. “We owe such a great thanks to them all,” said Seamus.
Darren directs
Directing The Weir will be Borris-based writer Darren Donohue. Darren holds an MA in Performance Studies from UCD and is an award-winning Irish playwright, director, and poet. His plays have been produced in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Milan, Prague, Baltimore, and New York.
Darren’s plays and readings for the Abbey Theatre include Home Game, The Barkhausen Effect, and Home-from-Home. Other plays include Dayshift (Tramedautore Theatre Festival – Milan; Festival on the Crisis PIIGS – Barcelona), Voices in the Rubble (Rapid Lemon Productions, Baltimore), Tuesday Evening (Following the News) (Fishamble), A Bucket Full of Fire (Sheer Tantrum/Pandora), The Bird Trap (Three Streets Theatre Company), Keep the Home Fires Burning (Comedians Theatre Company), Revelations, Propelled Upright (Dublin Fringe Festival), Waitin 4 Johno (Crooked House), Bedlam (Dublin Theatre Festival), Dual Cats with One Crayfish, I and the Village (Irish Repertory Theatre, NYC), and I and the Village (Bread and Roses Theatre, London).
Darren won the Bread and Roses Playwriting Award in 2019 and the Radius Playwriting Competition in 2020, in association with Finborough Theatre. He was awarded the Dennis O’Driscoll Literary Award in 2020. His debut poetry collection, titled Secret Poets, is published by Turas Press. His plays are published by the Irish Theatre Institute, Stagescripts UK, and New Island Drama. Darren’s directing credits include Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Mai, Rumours, Grease, By the Bog of Cats, After the Dance, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Man Born to Be King, Voices in the Rubble, and A Bucket Full of Fire.
The Weir will run for six performances at the Thomastown Concert Hall in March.
The cast includes Ger Cody, Niall Morrissey, Derek Dooley, Joe Murray, and Ann Murray. The production manager is Dee Gibney.
