Stags and Hens (and the rest of the summer)

After the successful runs of Trainspotting and Smitten last year, we are very happy to announce that our next full scale production will be Stags and Hens by Willy Russell.

A viciously funny study of working class attitudes to marriage, love and ambition in dead end Liverpool of 1978, Stags and Hens will be performed in the Watergate Theatre for the first time.

Russell’s play first debuted in the Everyman Theatre in the writer’s native Liverpool in 1978. It has continually gone on to be performed and adapted all over the world since then.

Set between the male and female toilets of a dingy Liverpool nightclub, Stags and Hens tells the story of Linda and Dave’s last night of freedom before they marry the next day.

Dave has just crashed into the pub, absolutely legless with his sick splattered mates yanking him straight to the gents.

Linda, meanwhile, just wants to dance away her doubts about the impending nuptials. So this would be a very bad time for an old flame to show up.

Add to this the fact that both the stag and hen parties have ended up in the same club and we have the recipe for a bittersweet comedy of drunken embarrassments that’s alternately heartbreaking and hilarious.

Playing in the Watergate Theatre from July 21st to 25th of this year, the production is directed by Kevin Mooney who has previously directed Heart Shaped Vinyl and Cannibal! The Musical for Devious Theatre. The cast for Stags and Hens includes Stephen Colfer, Ciara Donegan, John Doran, Mairead Kiernan, Ken McGuire, Lynsey Moran, John Morton, Maria Murray, Roisin O’Reilly, Geoff Warner Clayton and Paul Young.

We had the launch for our summer program in the Watergate Theatre on Saturday night and it went down a treat despite the stifling heat and competition from the rugby.

Not only did we launch Stags and Hens but also announced our involvement in the Shakespeare In The House festival which will see a whole weekend of Shakespeare related fun, frolics and theatre take place in the 16th century Rothe House building in Kilkenny on the weekend of June 27th & 28th.

It’s being run in collaboration with ourselves, Young Irish Film Makers, Dreamstuff Youth Theatre, Rothe House and Kilkenny 400. There shall be more updates as and when we have them. And thanks to David Galster for the launch photos.

The C**T Cut

This is a nice little extra to our collection of Trainspotting footage. We’ve edited the play entirely with the word ‘cunt’. Undoubtedly its most prominent word. Please do enjoy. And if there are any people of a sensitive disposition in the vicinity, please cover their ears.

For more Trainspotting videos, you can check out our Youtube Page.

Cabaret Nights At The Barn

The Barn Owl Players are presenting a unique theatrical experiment over the next two Saturday nights in Kilkenny. The project is entitled ‘Cabaret Nights At The Barn’ and will see a unique mix of theatre and music presented in the fashion of a cabaret show with the audiences members sat at tables with two stages presenting work, one at either end of The Barn.

The idea is inspired by the famous Le Chat Noir bar of 19th century Paris, a bohemian and decadent cabaret venue for music, theatre, drink and all manner of deviousness.

And in the style of Le Chat Noir, The Barn Owl Players will present a night of monologues, from the well known likes of Shakespeare and Friel to some other pieces that are a bit more out of leftfield.

The Cabaret Nights will take place tonight May 16th and also next Saturday, May 23rd at 8pm nightly.
Tickets are 10Euro and can be booked in advance or bought on the door. For tickets and more information you can contact Barnstorm Theatre Company on 056-7751266.

The End

In our final clip from Trainspotting, we see the final refrain of Our Father as the characters confront not just the evils they have committed but also their own destinies. Choose life indeed.

For more Trainspotting clips, check out the Devious Theatre Youtube.

Also included here is Jessica Walsh’s cover version of The Smith’s ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ which was recorded specially for our production. Words/Music by Morrissey & Marr. Engineered by Ken McGuire.

[display_podcast]Jessica Walsh ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’

Alison’s Revenge

In our penultimate clip from our production of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting adapted by Harry Gibson, Alison ([played by Maria Murray) exacts some horrifying revenge on a bunch of boorish, English louts who harass her as she works in an Edinburgh cafe.

Adapted from one of Welsh’s most graphically disgusting passages of the book, the chapter makes a fantastic monologue and it’s performed with aplomb by Maria Murray. Not for the faint at heart by any means.

For more Trainspotting clips, check out our Youtube page.