This Weekend’s Theatre At Kilkenny Arts Festival 2: The Second Weekend

That’s a pretty exciting week of theatre just come and gone and we more than got our fair share. Everything so far has been a hit and word of mouth is absolutely booming around the town. I missed 2 shows unfortunately (A Western, The Smile Off Your Face) but I managed to catch a lot of great stuff. Coming up this weekend is another terribly exciting line up of fresh, new theatre goodness.

One thing I won’t be catching (and neither will a lot of people) is the completely sold out Foot Washing For The Sole which involves artist Adrian Howell’s washing the foot of one participant at a time in an intimate performance that breaks down all barriers between performer and audience member. It was heavily hyped coming into the festival and it sold out before it took it’s debut bow.

One thing I did manage to catch was THEATREclub’s Group Therapy For One which was a fantastic, uplifting and expertly performed one man show. It’s playing in Cleere’s Theatre until Sunday and is definitely well worth checking out.  I’ve already posted a review here and it also features some of the video’s we’ve produced for the show. Please do peruse it for a flavour of the show.

Finally, there’s Susan and Darren in the Watergate Theatre. Featuring a real life mother and son who invite you into their homes and let’s you prepare one of their famous parties. It’s a touching, honest and most of all fun slice of true life. I went to see it last night in the Watergate Theatre and it’s one of the most immersive pieces of theatre I’ve seen in a long time (and believe me, the rest of this festival’s theatre line up has been pretty damn immersive). It runs until Sunday (with the dance workshop at 6.30) and I strongly suggest that you book a ticket.

That rounds up the preview for this weekend’s shows at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, they’re well worth investing your time and money in believe me.

This Weekend’s Theatre At Kilkenny Arts Festival

The opening weekend of the 2010 Kilkenny Arts Festival promises to be a great one for theatre goers with three fantastic shows opening today in a diverse range of venues around the city.

Kicking off proceedings at 1pm today is Una McKevitt’s highly lauded Victor and Gord. A bittersweet and heartfelt study of friends and family, Victor and Gord was a massive word of mouth hit at last year’s Dublin Fringe Festival. It’s going to be the first event I’m covering for the Kilkenny Arts Festival and it’s definitely one of my most anticipated. I’m also very eager to see how it works in Cleere’s Theatre, a very small and intimate venue whose not inconsiderable charms aided our productions of Heart Shaped Vinyl and Shakespeare In Bits in the past. It runs from today at until Tuesday August 10th at 1pm daily. For more details, click here.

The Smile Off Your Face by Belgian outfit Ontroerend Goed is poised to be one of the big hits of the festivals. An intimate, boundary pushing performance that has to be experienced to be believed, The Smile Off Your Face focuses on one audience member at a time and should definitely satisfy the more adventurous theatre fan. It is advised that you get booking for this show quickly as places are quite limited. Performances start from 2pm – 5pm and again from 7pm to 10pm. The show takes place in Rothe House and you can book your tickets here.

Finally at 6.30 tonight we’ll see ponydance performing Where Did It All Go Right? at 6.30 in Left Bank. Wild, clever and a masterclass in comedy dance theatre, this is one show that’s guaranteed to get people talking. And lest ye think otherwise, it’s a show that is guaranteed to be selling out with strong word of mouth in Kilkenny since its announcement. It’ll be travelling to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival after this run so get it while you can! Read more when you click on this handy clickable link!

Ken and myself will be using our blogging and crafty social media skills for the benefit of Kilkenny Arts Festival this year so make sure to follow our coverage on the KAF blog if you’re so inclined. We’ll be doing the theatrical previews on this site with the musical previews going on over at Kilkennymusic.com. Get connected!

Watergate Productions serve Arsenic and Old Lace

Kilkenny’s grandest theatrical tradition Watergate Productions are serving up their newest production from tonight and it’s a classic. Arsenic and Old Lace is their first offering for 2010 and should prove a fine comedy performed by some of Kilkenny’s finest actors.

In recent years Watergate Productions have been striking out with new and different productions and have been actively seeking out new material. And it seems to have gone very down well with their devoted audiences as all their recent productions have had packed houses. This one should hit a theatre hungry Kilkenny audience just at the right time.

Arsenic and Old Lace was written in 1933 by American playwright Joseph Kesselring and tells the story of the Brewster sisters who have a neat little sideline in helping older gentlemen meet their maker with the aid of poison. It was later made into a Hollywood movie starring the debonair Cary Grant. This fast paced black comedy features an absolutely stellar cast of Kilkenny theatre stalwarts with a couple of new faces thrown in for good measure. Claire Gibbs and Colette Browne head up a cast that includes Tom O’Loughlin, Brendan Corcoran, Donal O’Brien, Joe Murray, Andrew Small, Michael Hayes, Orna Ward, Niall Fitzpatrick, Declan Taylor, Ger Cody, Paddy Behan and Richard Holland. The production is directed by Mary Cradock.

It opens tonight and runs until this Saturday in the Watergate Theatre, Parliament Street. Tickets cost 15/12.50 and are available from 056 – 7761674.

Dreamstuff 10 Announced

Dreamstuff Youth Theatre was the place where Devious Theatre got our theatrical educations and learnt the ropes and it’s still going strong after all these years. 10 years to be precise.

This September Dreamstuff Youth Theatre will be 10 years old and to mark the celebrations they have just announced a near year long programme of theatre which will all fall under the handy banner of Dreamstuff 10.

The programme kicks off in September with a frankly MASSIVE show on September 25th which will see a scene from every single Dreamstuff play over the past 10 years performed in the Watergate Theatre all in one night. So it’s a celebration of 10 years with 20 plays in one night, what’s not to love? The cast for the one night only show are: Trev Anderson, Angela Barrett, Philip Brennan, Alex Christle, Stephen Colfer, Ross Costigan, John Doran, Alan Doyle, Amy Dunne, Stacey Dunne, Sean Hackett, Mairead Kiernan, Ken McGuire, John Morton, Aoibhin Murphy, Michael Murphy, Sorcha O’Boyle, Suzanne O’Brien, Peter O’Connor, Jack O’Leary, Paddy O’Leary, David Thompson, Jessica Walsh.

The 20 plays that will get an airing are The Life Of Brian, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Treasure Island, The Shaughraun, Robin Hood, The Government Inspector, Sherlock Holmes and the Cult Of Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, Grimm’s Fairytales, Macbeth, The Three Musketeers, The Colleen Bawn, Around The World In 80 Days, The Rise Of Zorro, Wyrd Sisters, The Life Of Brian: The Second Coming, The Playboy Of The Western World, The Sword In The Stone, The Mouse That Roared and Andersen’s Fairytales.

Speaking of Andersen’s Fairytales, this will be next and 20th full length Dreamstuff production. It also marks a first for Dreamstuff as this is a theatrical sequel of sorts, a follow up to 2004’s hugely successful Grimm Fairytales: The Adventures Of The Brothers Grimm. Andersen’s Fairytales: The Adventures Of Hans Christian Andersen is again written by John Morton (who is currently uncomfortable writing about himself in the third person) and directed by Angela Barrett. The story sees the titular Danish author caught up in the world of his own creations in a fairytale escapade that should hopefully be just as wild and weird as Dreamstuff’s first foray into fairytale literature. It will run in the Watergate Theatre from December 15th – 19th.

The group will also mark their first foray into radio theatre when the senior and junior classes produce 2 radio plays that will be broadcast on KCLR96FM by the year’s end.

To round off the year there will be a seasonal reading of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol performed by a host of well known Kilkenny folk taking place in December. It will also feature a full choir and is bound to get that fuzzy Christmas feeling going.

Going into 2011, Dreamstuff Youth Theatre will be going abroad for the first time. They will be taking part in the prestigious National Theatre’s Connections programme which will see their first major production of the year travelling to Britain after it’s Watergate Theatre bow. The show in question is still to be announced but more on that should be forthcoming. It’s a major coup for the group and one which will see a whole bunch of young Kilkenny thespians getting to perform in Wales Millennium Centre in April 2011.

The Dreamstuff 10 programme will be rounded off by the fourth annual Shakespeare In The House festival which will again take place in Kilkenny in June, offering a whole bunch of Bard related performances and activities. Shows slated to take place include The Merry Wives Of Windsor and for the first time, The Tempest! Which of course is the show from which Dreamstuff takes it’s name.

So it’s a pretty full and exciting slate for Kilkenny’s premier youth theatre with a whole plethora of events going on from this September and through 2011. Stay tuned to yifm.com/dreamstuff for more details!

VIDEO: A Season Of Dario Fo

For those who might not have seen or attended our Dario Fo Season when it ran from December 09 to March this year, we’ve compiled a few clips of both shows and stuck ‘em up on the interweb for all to marvel at.

You can see all the contrasts and similarities between Accidental Death Of An Anarchist and Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! from the above video. Even at this early stage, there’s a lot of nostalgia to be had in looking at the clips. The double header of Dario Fo works was one of our biggest and most ambitious undertakings so far, and I’m glad to say one of our most successful. It really was as much fun as it looked.

It’s something we’d really love to restage again at some point. Horrendous government, economic disaster and public sector meltdowns permitting of course.

Kilkenny Arts Theatre & Dance Line Up A Go Go!

The entire line up for the theatre and dance strand of this year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival was revealed in full Wednesday. And as expected, it’s what’s known as ‘a doozy’. An absolutely fantastic line up which really shows that curator Tom Creed has gotten into his groove with this, his third time at the reins.

Last year’s theatre and dance line up was one of the finest ever seen at the festival. Any line up that’s going to feature Peter Brook guarantees that. However, like previous Kilkenny Arts line ups, it definitely played more to theatre savvy audiences than the average ‘walker in’ from the street but the 2010 mixed bag of goodies genuinely has something for everyone. This year’s line up puts the focus on fresh acts, innovative foreign companies, theatrical trailblazers and a plethora of daring, new Irish work. In recent year’s there has been an over reliance on the works of certain big names, most notably Samuel Beckett (or works that echo the great man, ala Frankie McCafferty’s Tintype) but this year’s line up really takes a gamble on a more adventurous (dare I say youthful?) audience lining up for some genuinely exciting theatre experiences.

Una McKevitt’s Victor and Gord is definitely my pick of the lot. It’s gotten some amazing reviews and was a genuine word of mouth hit at last year’s Fringe. It’s running in Cleere’s from Friday 6th – Tuesday 10th of August at 1pm each day. Ontroerend Goed, a frequently touring, award gobbling and hugely exciting Belgian outfit will present their hit show The Smile Off Your Face in Rothe House.  Describing this in any detail will do it a disservice so I recommend that you book a slot in Rothe House for one of the many performances. It also runs Friday 6th – Tuesday 10th of August.

Belfast’s ‘brilliantly average’ ponydance presents Where Did It All Go Right? a hugely entertaining piece of dance theatre in Left Bank from Friday August 6th – Sunday August 8th. Early buzz on this is that it’s going to be the ‘did you see?’ show of this strand so it would be well advisable to book early. Plus, it’s on in the Left Bank too so as any Kilkennyians know, it’s always jammers on the weekend anyway! The Bristol based Action Hero are not a group I’m familiar with so reading the programme like everyone else, I can just say that A Western sounds very exciting and I’m really looking forward to it. Kyteler’s Inn can definitely be described as an unconventional space so I look forward to seeing what they do with it.

The insanely exciting THEATREclub will make their Kilkenny debut with their one man show Group Therapy For One. Peter Crawley has routinely written the best plaudits for THEATREclub but when he says ’slightly less energy than the national grid’ it certainly makes you sit up and take notice. I took part in a workshop with them recently and energy isn’t the word. It was certainly one of the more interesting orgasms I’ve had in a while. Group Therapy For One runs in Cleere’s from Wednesday August 11th – Sunday August 15th.

Susan and Darren: An Event With Dancing is one of the more original propositions. All I’ll say is that any mother/ son dance party in the Watergate Theatre is a dance party I want to be part of. It runs from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th of August. Rounding off events is a one man performance by Adrian Howells entitled Foot Washing For The Sole. Get it? The show does exactly what it says on the tin and will require some early booking if you’re to savour one of the more unique experiences of this year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival. It takes place in Kilkenny’s newest oldest venue, The Hole In The Wall.

So that’s the run through of the line up and what a tantalising prospect it is. There will be a lot more coverage both here and on the festival blog over the next few weeks (myself and Ken will be manning the decks on both) so do stay tuned!

Shakespeare In The House 2010

This year’s Shakespeare In The House festival will be kicking off this weekend in the fantastic setting of the 16th century Rothe House building on Parliament Street, Kilkenny. We won’t be taking part this year but we will definitely be attending.

Produced by Dreamstuff Youth Theatre, the festival sees a series of Shakespeare plays performed by youngsters taken from the junior and senior groups of Dreamstuff. And there’s also going to be a whole lot more besides, including another Shakespeare drawing workshop by the folks at Cartoon Saloon and a face painting session.

The centrepiece is a performance of Twelfth Night by the senior group at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday night. It’s the only paid performance but it does include the price of a BBQ in Rothe Garden afterwards. It’s a pretty quality combo deal!

Having taken part in last year’s festival we know how good a project it is and the entertainment on show (most of it free) is of an extremely high standard. And the added bonus is the lovely setting of Rothe House, built at the same time that Shakespeare was first performing his plays. The line up for the entire weekend is thus:

Saturday 19th June
3.00pm – Face painting, Photo Booth & Sonnets begin
3.30pm – Senior Drama abridged Much Ado About Nothing
4.30pm – Junior Drama The Shakespeare Story
7pm – Twelfth Night & BBQ

Sunday 20th June
3.00pm – Face painting, Photo Booth & Sonnets begin
3.30pm – Junior Drama The Merchant of Venice
4.30pm – Senior Drama abridged The Taming of the Shrew
5.30pm – Art Competition results
7pm – Twelfth Night & BBQ

We’re due good weather so it all should make for a fine weekend of the great Bard in a lovely setting!

Chairmen LMAO Comedy Presents…

Stephen Colfer, erstwhile of this company fame, is promoting a showcase of some of Ireland’s finest up and coming comedian’s this Friday night June 11th. Straight out of The Twisted Pepper in Dublin, Chairmen LMAO Comedy takes to the road and pitches up in a Kilkenny that is still all warmed up from the Cat Laughs last weekend.

The venue is Cleere’s on Parliament Street, the time is 8.30pm and the price is a paltry 5 Euro.

It’s also on at the same time as the World Cup France v Uruguay game so if you’re too depressed to be near televisions then it’s the perfect antidote.  The performers that will be on show include Conor Barry, Stephen Colfer, Kelan Flynn, Heber Hanly, Jon Hozier-byrne, Kevin Lockard, David Reilly and headlining up top are sketch troupe The Glen Coco Experience. Between the lot of them they’ve won over 15 awards for various comedy related things and are likely to be a lovely bunch altogether.

Come on down!

One Act Theatre Festival by The Barn Owl Players

The Barn Owl Players are opening their account for 2010 with a hugely novel idea that should prove to be one of the theatre highlights of the year in Kilkenny.

As if we aren’t full to the brim of quality festivals already, next week will see a one act theatre festival taking place for the very first time in The Barn. The group will be presenting five one act plays over the space of four days. One programme of events will take place on June 14th and 15th and there will be a follow up programme on June 17th and 18th. The centrepiece(s) of the festival will be the performance on two companion plays by the American playwright James McLure. Laundry and Bourbon features a female ensemble cast with Lone Star featuring an all male cast. Both plays explore the lives of 3 couples in a deep Texan backwater town. The cast for Laundry and Bourbon features Janis Woodgate, Trisha Hogan and Eithne O’Reilly. The men making up the cast for Lone Star are Jim Carroll, Michael Somers and John Whitely. Both of these plays are directed by the artistic director of Barnstorm, Philip Hardy.

The other two plays you’ll see in the first half of the festival are Here We Are, directed by Sheila Kirby and starring Nicola Keating and Willie Ryan. The final performance will be Cocaine, directed by Willie Ryan and starring Laura Keys and Hughie Glynn. The second programme will additionally feature Costa Del Packet, directed by Trish Brennan and featuring a very strong (and highly journalistic) female ensemble cast of Naoise Coogan, Mary Cody, Ita Morrissey, Sinead Goggin and Nuala Roche.

The Barn Owl Players have been performing a highly eclectic and varied series of productions since they were formed in 2007 under the banner of Barnstorm Theatre Company. With a strong ensemble troupe of 26 members they are also the largest team of actors working in Kilkenny City at present. Their plays usually sell out very quickly so you’d be well advised to secure tickets for the One Act Theatre Festival quick as you can. Both programmes will take place in The Barn, Church Lane, Kilkenny. Tickets are 12/10 Euro for one performance but 18/20Euro for the two programmes, they can be booked on 056 – 7751266 or at info@barnstorm.com

Outdoor Theatre Workshop With David Scott

A new theatre workshop will be taking place in Kilkenny on Sunday June 13th led by David Scott, the artistic director of Company D. The course will cover acting technique, voice and movement designed for large auditorium theatre and outdoor performance, specifically focusing on power and presence in outdoor arenas and larger theatres.

The course will offer a focus on classical text, particualrly Shakespeare and will explore improvisation through commedia dell’arte methods. For beginners, it should offer a really good opportunity to explore some modes of theatre that they might not have touched. For more advanced practitioners there’s the chance to hone their skills in the lovely outdoor setting of Highbank Farm and apply themselves to outdoor performance.

All applicant’s should have one Shakespearean or Classical Greek monologue in their utility belts.

For more information on the course, contact Ruth Calder-Potts on 0864043588

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