Smitten Review: The Munster Express

The following review was published in this week’s Munster Express and can also be found online here. Our thanks to Liam Murphy for his words and review of Smitten.

-
The Devious Theatre Company in Kilkenny have been earning themselves some welcome and very favourable attention for a young company doing edgy work like Cannibal – The Musical and Trainspotting at the Watergate Theatre, so it is only natural that they would take on a rite-of-passage youth story written by a member, John Morton. Putting it on at Barnstorm’s The Barn Theatre kept it low-key and low cost too and it was able to look at aspects of life for young people in Kilkenny in an edgy way.

Billed as a tragic-comic series of stories from Kilkenny City, these slices of life, on mostly rainy nights, had a youth theatre feel to them like Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Testicular Cancer, Career Choices and Doomed Relationships. Big themes that might have been heavy with issues and resolutions, but they chose a mix of styles, of tell the story and laid it out in any entertaining romcom way. The first half was mostly couples and hetro-metro sexuality and a large dash of expletives that fuelled nervous laughter. Characters stepped out of role to address the audience and there was a conscious homage to Conor McPherson, and his Seafarer, some cinema references and a Duelling Guitars sequence. The problems, so wittily explored in part one, were resolved cleverly, mostly in monologues in act two and John Morton showed his considerable writing skill in finding new wine from old bottles and with the help of a fine ensemble cast making scenes believable and just a little different.

So, you have a great night’s theatre, where you got involved in the lives of fresh characters, in maybe stereotypical situations but you were caught up in the rights-of-passage of characters, as well as the rite-of-passage of an exciting theatre company strutting their stuff and laying down a marker to be treated and funded as the next professional act in Kilkenny. Maybe they are the nucleus of a first professional company since Bickerstaffe.

John Morton is not only fine writer in a modern televisual style but he is a fine actor with his portrayal of a carpenter with his palms in bandages, who makes a wooden heart for his dream girl and saves the role from cliché. Colm Sheenan directed with flair and passion but too often set his characters in the same stage positions as if his audience was a camera in a studio.

Every member of the cast gave the audience a memorable moment and portrayed real people with some depth and honesty. I especially loved the work of Stephen Colfer as a pessimistic moaner, Maria Murray as an indecisive, spontaneous free spirit. Jack O’Leary looked like a character from Lost and he had a twinkle in his eye to die for. Ken McGuire does sleezeball charm like snakeoil and was indeed a right expletive deleted. Lynsey Moran made a boring character believable by playing it straight all the time. Suzanne O’Brien was exceptional as the goodtime party animal with a heart of tenderness.

Smitten Review: Kilkenny People (Tess Felder)

The following review was published in Tess Felder’s column, in the Kilkenny People newspaper on August 27th 2008;

“THINK of how many people sit in the Castle Park (when it isn’t lashing rain) or in their bedrooms, studies or garages writing plays which no one will ever perform.

Now think how lucky a twenty-something Kilkenny man would be to have a local theatre group with a stellar cast and production and publicity crew. This is the fortune of playwright John Morton, whose play was staged last week by the Devious Theatre Company, and was as much of a smash hit as his play Heart Shaped Vinyl which was the group’s debut a few years back.

For four nights last week, the Devious group once again delighted capacity audiences, this time in Barnstorm Theatre Company’s space, The Barn.

Set in Kilkenny, this well written play involves numerous realistic twenty-somethings trying to find their way in relationships, jobs and life in general.

With some echoes of Heart Shaped Vinyl and a similar boost from well selected songs sprinkled throughout, this play also enters the transition from carefree youth into the more adult situation of taking responsibility for your life.

The well drawn characters were brought to life fantastically by the varied and talented cast, with standout performances from Jack O’Leary, as an unemployed musician, the playwright himself as a carpenter with wounded hands “just like Jesus”, Kevin Mooney as an alcoholic who “just likes beer”, and Suzanne O’Brien as the mystifying but troubled Daffney Molloy. Angelic Annette O’Shea, feisty librarian Niamh Moroney, fastastically full-of-himself Ken McGuire (the character that is), a twitchy Ross Costigan and masterfully dull Lynsey Moran – the list goes on. And who could forget the font of knowledge from sage advice-giver Geoff Warner Clayton.

With each Devious production, audiences can expect top-quality performances from a core group of actors, with new additions continuously broadening the talent.

With the shows sold out, many audience hopefuls missed their chance this time round, but maybe they’ll be lucky and Devious Theatre will offer repeat performances as they did with Heart Shaped Vinyl.

As Smitten makes so clear relationships come and go, but Devious Theatre and Kilkenny are blissfully involved in more than just a honeymoon period.”

Smitten Review: Kilkenny People (Gerry Moran)

The following review was published in Gerry Moran’s column, in the Kilkenny People newspaper on August 27th 2008;

“On the topic of theatre and local talent, the Devious Theatre Company, whose production of Trainspotting in the Watergate Theatre I wrote about recently in this column, are up and at it again. They performed Smitten a two-act play written by a member of the company, John Morton, who also performs in the production. Smitten was staged in the Barn – Barnstorm’s intimate and charming theatre tucked away in what was once the Loreto convent in Church Lane.

Set in Kilkenny, Smitten primarily deals with the ups and downs, ins and outs of three young couples whose lives loosely interlink and who are trying to find their way in what came across as a rather cold, crude, ruthless, drink-sodden society.

“Alcoholism, pregnancy, testicular cancer, career choices, doomed relationships, sock puppets, mystery women,” these according to the programme, are some of the interweaving themes in Smitten. Too many perhaps, but unless you’re a philistine of the first order you’ll be smitten with Smitten. Never a dull moment, it is at times tender and touching, callous and cruel, but always humorous, engaging and entertaining.

And maybe our Arts Festival folk might take a look also at this energetic, exciting and productive theatre company – not least their talented writer John Morton – and offer them a platform for one of their productions for next years festival.

…The Devious Theatre Company…wonderful local talents.”

Smitten Review: Kilkenny People (Edwina Grace)

The following review was published in Edwina Grace’s column; “Up Close & Personal” in the Kilkenny People newspaper on August 27th 2008;

“John Morton is a legend; let me start with that.

Equally legendary is the band of merry men and women who with him collectively make up the Devious Theatre Company. The group has built up a staunch following which has grown through such excellent productions as Trainspotting and Heart Shaped Vinyl. Now after the success of their latest offering you can expect to be hearing a lot more from the team.

The four-night run of Smitten merely served to prove just how popular and talented the Devious members are. The show, held at Barnstorm Theatre’s space The Barn on the coach road, was sold out each night with last-minute hopefuls turned away each evening as word of mouth spread. Begging ‘phone calls and texts were made to cast, crew and even local journalists as efforts were made to track down an elusive spare seat.

Set in Kilkenny City over a few sodden summer nights, the tragi-comedy told the tales of a disparate group of twenty-somethings trying to find their feet as they try to get their bearings in life, each stuck in their own limbo.

For those of us who grew up in Kilkenny the many references to local life kept us entertained as we drew parallels with out own lot set in familiar surroundings of the ‘Nal, the Pumphouse toilet door and so on.

But you didn’t have to be from the area to enjoy Smitten as its forever engaging and universally twisting plotlines kept the crowd enthralled.

So take a bow Stephen Colfer, Ross Costigan, Amy Dunne, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney, Lynsey Moran, Niamh Moroney, Maria Murray, Suzanne O’Brien, Jack O’Leary, Annette O’Shea and Geoff Warner Clayton and especially John Morton who penned the production.”

Talking Smitten On KCLR96FM

Earlier this evening I dropped into the KCLR 96FM studios in Kilkenny for a chat with Martin Bridgeman on the Culture Club (Arts Show) about Smitten, some of the public reaction and some of the company’s own reaction. Over the 6-7 minutes we chat about the show, the hype, getting to the production, what comes next…

You can listen to the clip below. Thanks to KCLR for having us on the radio last Monday and Tuesday and again tonight for a quick follow up. We’re seriously thankful for all their support.

Ken McGuire speaking to Martin Bridgeman about Smitten – 26/08/2008

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

-Ken

Struck as with hard blow. Smitten closes.

John Morton as Kevin in ‘Smitten’.

After a 4 night sell out run we’re all a little shell shocked. Struck as with hard blow for absolute sure.We weren’t expecting the demand for our production of Smitten to be as it was. But it certainly was. The entire run had been pretty much booked out by Thursday afternoon. Any remaining awry comps were contested and SOLD OUT signs (as below) were quickly drawn up by a big red marker.

All the while we stood by quite amazed.

This show was a bit of a leap of faith for us. We termed it an experiment certainly. For a fledgling company to do a brand new untested play 6 weeks after a massive large scale production in a space that most people hadn’t heard of or struggled to find with a severely depleted roster of actors and resources was an ask. But it was worth every second.

I was so proud of everyones hard work and what was achieved. The fact that 4 nights of a sell out produced consistent laughs and smiling faces was enough for me. Relief too! I could see where the play worked and where it didn’t but with an audience it breathed, and I’m glad it came to life. It went a bit too long and a few tech glitches hiccuped us but mostly it was a production that showed the hard slog that had been put into it. With all my initial worries and nerves calmed, I’ll now happily go back to the lab and tinker away.

So, solid props to the director Colm Sheenan for his tireless work on the project. To our awesome set, prop and lighting designers Eddie Brennan, Thom Dowling and Gerry Taylor. To everyone at Barnstorm Theatre Company for letting us into their home and stealing their milk for the week. To the hard grafting committee of Devious Theatre, Ken, Paddy, Niamh, Ross and Kev. And finally to the amazing cast who really gave it socks and gave the audiences some fine performances. They were a joy in every single way and to revive the show just to work with them again would be worth it alone. They were Stephen Colfer, Ross Costigan, Amy Dunne, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney, Lynsey Moran, Niamh Moroney, Maria Murray, Suzanne O’Brien, Jack O’Leary, Annette O’Shea and Geoff Warner Clayton.

And that’s that. Us Devious bods must rest ourselves before the next production begins. Until October…

John Morton

Writer

Smitten

Smitten Night Two: Sold Out All Over Again

So the second night of Smitten has come and gone and once again we had to hang the ‘Sold Out’ signs out front (or at least our lovely makeshift and very Devious sold out signs).

The phone call came my way about 4pm again to indicate we were out of tickets for Thursday night, knowing that the tickets we were keeping at the door were all snapped up as well, another surprise for us in what is turning out to be a week of nice surprises.

In changing the technical team for the night the show went off relatively without a hitch, opening at 8:05pm without a spare seat in the house. In what is both good news and bad news it looks like Saturday is pretty much sold out and Friday (as of yesterday evening) was about 4-5 tickets off a sell out, leaving many people scrambling for tickets to catch the show before it closes at the weekend.

If you are looking for tickets we suggest you contact Rollercoaster Records sooner rather than later, due to the limited number of tickets available per night.

Tonight’s show, the third of the run, opens in The Barn at 8pm. Why not catch up with some of the cast afterwards in Cleere’s on Parliament Street. We’d love to meet up with those attending the show, hear your thoughts and have a wee chat before enjoying an aftershow tipple.

Here’s to two more good nights on the stage…

Smitten Opens To Sold-Out House

 

L-R: Jack O’Leary, Kevin Mooney, Niamh Moroney and Annette O’Shea in ‘Smitten’

Smitten, our fourth production, opened last night in The Barn, Kilkenny, to a sold-out house. Managing to up the capacity of the venue late yesterday we’re now seating for 80 patrons and each of the 80 seats disappeared before the show opened last night.It’s great to get a call from the ticket office (and many thanks to Rollercoaster Records in Kieran Street for handling our sales) in the afternoon to say they’re all out of tickets. With a limited number of tickets available on the door, whatever tickets we had for yesterday’s show vanished before the lights went up.

It’s hard to see we’re back at show week again with Trainspotting still in the minds of some of the cast but yet, six weeks on from the Watergate, we’re right back in the thick of it doing what we enjoy most – putting on new theatre in Kilkenny.

Given that opening night far surpassed the expectations of myself, the rest of the committee, cast and crew, we’re advising people not to delay in getting a ticket for Smitten. We won’t be adding any additional shows to the calendar for the week. While we *might* have a very limited number of tickets available on the door, you can still purchase tickets for tonight, Friday night and Saturday night from Rollercoaster Records on Kieran Street in Kilkenny.

This is the only venue tickets are available from during the day. Tickets, while they last, are priced at €10. We’ve enjoyed our opening night and hope that you’ll enjoy the rest of the week.

Ken
Producer / Playing ‘Niall’

SMITTEN – Tommy and Daffney

“I’m dancing and singing in the rain…”
A Short Story from Smitten

Tommy’s head was spinning with the stories. All the stories he was hearing from his friends about this girl, this girl who came from Kilkenny and was apparently all that. But he just couldn’t figure it out. As he sat, cradling a can of Coke at that party in Loughboy, that one word kept spinning through his head. Beguiling. Beguiling. Beguiling. That’s what they say she is.

And that one name kept spinning through his head. Daffney Molloy.

And poor Tommy, so numb and jaded and without spark for so long now. Sure, isn’t it his own fault? For all the stupid drugs he took for years and the pointless drinking and the job’s dumped and the college drop outs and the depression and the hell he put his body through. There he is, all quarter of a century of him, finally coming out of his early 20’s fugue with his dick that just won’t work, and he meets a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in countless stories and myths and legends.

And he feels something… fizzle. He’s looking for the simple stuff right now. Stuff that will help him get his bearings in life. Maybe a job, maybe go back to college, maybe some shoes? But most of all, he’d like a nice girl to do the simple things with, go to the pictures and maybe a bit of lie down kissing? If it’s not too much hassle of course, I don’t want to cause any hassle, I just want someone to give me a spark. That’s all he’s asking for and it’s not too much to ask for is it?

And as he sits there with his little fried brain trying to work, his friends keep on spinning the yarns about this mystery girl who’s back in town and has them smitten like kittens.

Apparently one time Skeet Keating walked up to her in the Market Cross and just asked her out. She was 16 at the time with black hair tied in pigtails and baggy Hobo jeans and she had her nose pierced but that’s not what matters. What matters is that little Skeet plucked up the courage to ask out Daffney Molloy. And she just looked at him with those piercing blue eyes and asked him why on earth would he want to go out with her and could he give her 3 good reasons why he was asking her out. And he coughed and he spluttered and he couldn’t think of anything. And with a little smile and a wink, she just left him standing there.

Motion. Slow motion. That’s how she moves. Stevey can remember the time he came home from college and went into Dunnes Stores to buy deodorant for his sweaty Bus Eireann afflicted armpits and he saw her shopping with her mother. He saw her move through the fruit and veg section with a grace he’d never seen before in a girl, like she was floating or something. She had messy brown hair with blonde streaks in it and a bright yellow and green top and holding that head of lettuce, he swore she swayed it into her mother’s trolley. That’s how she moves. With the motion of the world in her body.

That’s how she moved the time Kevin saw her that night in Cleere’s. It was rare enough to see her out but she just waltzed through the place without a care in the world. Maybe she was looking for someone but maybe, just maybe, she was waltzing for waltzing’s sake. She had long straight red hair and pink glasses and tattered jeans that hung nicely on her hips and oh how those hips moved. Before he could even get his bearings, she had waltzed away on her own. And even though he kept an eye out for the rest of the night, he never saw her or indeed, any waltzing from the other girls. They just didn’t waltz.

Tommy listened to these stories intently. He was as intrigued as she was beguiling. Well, that’s what they said she was anyway.

And at the exact same time Tommy sat at that party, a girl stood on the Parade in the lashings of rain, sheltering herself in the entrance way of the Left Bank. She was staring out at that pissing rainy Kilkenny night with a smile on her face. People were running for cover into pubs, doorways, taxis, anywhere they could protect their wet bodies from the thumping power of the rain. Cackling hen nights getting their devil horns soaked and checked shirts getting drenched and dolly girls getting their well kept hair doused. Everybody wants to be dry. And why oh why would they want to be dry, thinks the girl.

And with that, she jumps down off the steps into the street and pulls her umbrella up.

‘Doo dee doo doo, doo dee doodle doo doo’ she sings to herself as she puts her hand out to feel the rain drops. And with that she pulls her umbrella back down and skips across the Parade, as if she’s dancing specifically towards the little green man across the road. A big smile spreads across her face as the raindrops spread down her smiling face. People look very confused at the sight of this girl, dancing happily through the lashing rain.

She skips across by the bank and waves her hand at a grumbling sham couple and then skips lightly over one of the flower pots before outstretching her arms to embrace the downpour. She spins her umbrella around and does a little tap dance as she passes the Book Centre, cradling that black brolley as if it were dancing along with her.

With a kick, she sends the umbrella into the air, it spins for an age before landing right in her mitts. And with that, she launches herself onto the road and spins her brolley as if she were a one woman merry go round. Cars beep and honk at her but she’s not doing any harm is she? Oh no, it’s only dancing, isn’t it?

She balances precariously on the footpath outside Goods and kicks all the puddles up into the air. Up they go! Splish splash splish! Kick, kick, stamp, stamp in the puddles and she’s soaked through and through and doesn’t care, not a jot. She’s happy to be home and with all the sadness and sickness and rain everywhere, isn’t it so much better to be dancing?

A guard stops in front of her, a big thick necked country bullock and he folds his arms crossly. The girl stops her splishing and splashing and looks apologetically at him. She shrugs her shoulders and turns and hands her umbrella to a passing elderly man, who takes it bemused. And with that, she saunters off towards the Town Hall.

And who is she?

No one knows.

Tickets for Smitten are on sale NOW in Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street and they are 10EURO. The show runs August 20 – 23 and starts 8pm nightly. For more information and updates, check out www.devioustheatre.com

Smitten – A Play From Kilkenny

It’s a little bit weird being at this stage of any kind of creative endeavour. The stage where you’ve really worked so long on something and it’s just about to be presented to people and you’re not really sure if its ready or indeed, if it’s much cop. Well, I’m at that stage now with Smitten. I could probably spend years working on it and we would probably love another few weeks of rehearsals but that’s always the way and really, beside the point. It’s opening this week and it’s going to be seen and I hope people like it and it’s all very much out of my hands.

Smitten is a story (or stories) that I’ve had, quite aimlessly, in my head for years and years. Initially, I just wanted to set something specifically in Kilkenny. It’s my hometown and I’ve lived with the place for so long that I just had this desire to put something to paper about the place because I’d love to read stuff set in Kilkenny myself. So, I had all these little stories and they were all random, often interlinked but mostly self contained. And they were all set in Kilkenny. Odd stuff like a story about a lovelorn waitress who had a heart she couldn’t keep in her chest and used to have to chase it all around the place. Or this character who used to turn to ice at the most awkward moments and break into tiny pieces. And there was a guy who could literally read peoples faces and a comedy story set at a funeral and there was a really awkward drug deal that went horribly wrong and all these other bits and pieces of assorted story bric-a-brac. And a lot of the stuff that found its way into the play was there too like angels and sock puppets and the grand romantic gestures. And thematically, really, it was all about being in your 20’s and the preoccupations you have at that time of your life. And of course, these were preoccupations that I had myself so I really wanted to express them in a story. I’d heard this phrase ‘Your teens are your body’s puberty but your twenties are your minds’ and it really summed up what I wanted to jot down. At first it was a novel but at this stage I’m a little too undisciplined to write a novel so I began working on this 90 minute screenplay. Not that I thought it would be a particularly good film but rather because I just wanted to get the fucking thing down on paper and try and batter out some sort of shape to it.

Then after Heart Shaped Vinyl (my first play, churned out in a month and thrown onstage before the umbilical cord could be cut) I had a bit more confidence about what went into writing a play. There was no pressure on me to write another and there was no particular need for me to do so but Smitten just jumped to mind. I had a fear that I’d have this story about the choices you face in your 20’s and that by the time I got around to executing it in any form I’d suddenly be in my 30’s. And as books and films are infinitely more ambitious ventures, I figured I’d try and adapt Smitten into a play. And that’s what I’ve spent the past year doing.

I tried to mould it into some decent structure and then tried to implement all the various surreal elements I wanted to put into it. In its story and script form I had a disparate selection of dream sequences and dance sequences and singing sequences and heavy doses of magic realism all this other shit I could indulge in because I was just writing for myself, right? But with an audience in mind I felt I had to jettison a lot of the outlandish elements of the stories and really focus on telling a few stories well. So that’s what I’ve tried to do and I hope it works out. It’s been a long process and a tough process and really, I’d love more time with it but yup, out of my hands. I’ve spent countless times annoying the actors and Colm with changes throughout the rehearsal process but I think I could just stay tinkering at something for fucking ages. Even up to the first week of our rehearsal period there was one story about this suicidal girl who hovered above the Canal Walk and I really liked elements of it but it was an awkward fit so I cut it. I think the reason I liked it was because it wasn’t intertwined into the story of a relationship. I guess that’s the one thing I don’t like about Smitten, that it’s too couple heavy. So instead of being about an assortment of 20 something’s, it becomes about an assortment of 20 something couples. But those couple stories do seem to commentate on choices you have to make in your 20’s so yeah, all the lovey dovey stuff might just have a point.

Despite constant nervousness and worry, I’ve really enjoyed the rehearsal period on this one and after our initial casting difficulties, it’s been really fun. It really is an awesome cast, they’re fucking brilliant, every one of them. Toppers they are. The words really flow out like rain onto a Kilkenny street and they make it sound a lot better than I could have hoped for. Our committee and crew have really worked hard on this one. Initially, after how well Trainspotting went we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to muster the energy for another play and that we’d end up fucking up our momentum by burning ourselves out. Well, if burn out is in the post, it hasn’t arrived yet. I think it’s that nervousness about topping Trainspotting and also having to live up to the plaudits we got for it that’s made us up our A game considerably. So myself, Niamh, Ken, Kevin, Ross, Paddy and Colm have spent ample time sitting in The Field drinking stupid amounts of tea and deliberating over every minute detail of this production. I’m very proud of the work we do and if this play bombs and goes up in a big heap of smoke, I’m happy choking on it in the knowledge that we’ve tried our best.

Also, we wouldn’t have been able to do this play without Barnstorm Theatre Company’s assistance. They’ve supported it all the way and given us their time, space and professionalism, all for the love of local theatre. And for that, they must be commended. We’d be at nothing without support and with them we’ve had it in bucket loads. If you haven’t had the pleasure of being in The Barn before, oh you wait and see. Plus Eddie has some killer set design plans in place. It’s going to be something else. And David Sheenan, aka Supernova Scotia, has contributed a fucking awesome score for the play which makes it seem really unique. So yeah, it’s gonna look and sound great at least!

I also have to state that Colm Sheenan, our director, has been fantastic. He’s really busted his ass on the play and has never given up on it. He’s always brimful of direction, suggestions and chair movements. And he’s always good enough to step back when the actors want to try something out or when I invariably fret and worry about a scene and keep thinking of changing stuff. I really hope the finished product does his work justice.

And it’s that finished work that goes onstage this Wednesday. Is it finished? Well, for now it is. But I always think I might go back to that book or that film script again. And for no other reason in my mind than there’s a lot of stories in Kilkenny and they’re well worth telling. It’s a hell of a place. Despite all the rain.

John Morton

Writer

Smitten

Smitten opens August 20^th in The Barn, Church Lane, Kilkenny. It runs until Saturday August 23^rd and tickets are 10EURO in Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street.

Next Page »