A Guaranteed Good Night Out

Don’t just take our word for it, take John Cleere’s in his review of 2008 as featured in this week’s Kilkenny Advertiser.

On the theatre scene there was only one word to describe the year: The Devious Theatre Company (ok, four words). Their first production, “Heart Shaped Vinyl”, had me hoping they weren’t going to be a one-hit wonder, but I needn’t have worried, they repeated the success not once, but twice, in 2008.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the film “Trainspotting“, but the stage version by Devious Theatre in The Watergate was the highlight of the year. They quickly followed it up with an original play, “Smitten”, by John Morton. I’ve no idea what their plans are for 2009, but already at this early stage of their development, a Devious Theatre production is a guaranteed good night out.

You can read the article in full here.

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.

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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

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-Ken

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 Tickets On Sale

Tickets have just gone on sale for our latest production, Smitten. They can be bought from the good folks at Rollercoaster Records on Kieran Street and they cost 10EURO. Tickets can be booked on 056 – 7763669.

Smitten will open in just under 3 weeks time and will run for 4 nights from Wednesday August 20^th to Saturday August 23^rd at 8pm nightly. All information and updates on the show can be found on our website, Bebo and Myspace sites.

The show will be performed in The Barn, Church Lane, Kilkenny.

The Barn is a studio space that lies right in the heart of medieval Kilkenny. Located in Church Lane, directly behind St. Canice’s Cathedral, the building was formerly home to the old Loreto Convent. The space was developed by Barnstorm Theatre Company who have used it for performance and rehearsal over the years. It is located directly behind The Good Sheperd Centre building and we’re delighted to be able to bring a Devious crowd into one of the best performance spaces in Kilkenny.

Please click on our Smitten themed map to The Barn above for further orientation!

Smitten rehearses on

And on we go again. After Trainspotting it didn’t take us awfully long to get back into the rehearsal buzz on a new play. It was either the stupidest idea in the world or a real smart move to capitalise on the success of Trainspotting. Either way, we’ll find out when the curtain goes up in 3 weeks time!

It has been a bit of a stressful one so far. Of that there’s no doubt. It’s mainly been centred on finding a female cast to slot into the parts and that’s been damn hard. Where are the actresses in the South East?! We’ve really struggled with this one but thankfully we’ve shored up all the gaps and the boat sails on! Yup, us folks Devious Theatre are suckers for nautical metaphors.

Our press releases went out this week and as Ross already posted, we hit that Credit Union window with a dose of slightly unhinged A game… it wasn’t going to get the better of us again, oh no! So ship Smitten sets sail.

The cast has been great so far and I think they’re really going to give a good accounting of themselves when the play goes up. We’re blessed with them, truly. There’s no bigger pain in the hoop than uninterested actors and having to implement ‘carrot on a stick’ direction but between Trainspotting and Smitten it’s been a joy to work with the crew we’ve had. Acting has always been my first love, after nautical metaphors. However, over the past few months my duties as a director or a writer has put acting in the back seat for me, only popping up as a utility player in times of difficulty (I’m like the Ole Gunner Solsjkaer of Devious Theatre!) but the passion and the commitment of the Devious acting troupe in 2008 has really roused in me those acting flames again. Just seeing how they’ve approached roles and the constant posing of questions, experimenting, discussion, imagination and tenacity they’ve brought to our projects really shows them up for the talented artists they are. I always found artist to be a wanky word for an actor but it does perfectly describe the attitude this lot have had to their work. They make the words sound as natural as sea water lapping against a boat! And just to confirm the lot of them, apart from myself, they are 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.

I’ll be writing about the play itself in greater detail soon but just to give it a bit of context, it is a selection of interlinking stories based around a group of 20 something’s in present day Kilkenny. It’s not something intended to travel or intended to be a piece of well made theatre. I like to call it a theatrical collage, if such a term makes sense. The scenes are random, unconnected and veer wildly between comedy and tragedy. It’s a new piece of work that is designed to pay tribute to Kilkenny. There’s never really been a piece of Kilkenny based theatre before, not that I know of anyway, and with a bit more of a spring in our step we thought it would be good to get some Kilkenny stories up there. It’s not a real interpretation of Kilkenny, it’s very much the romantic one… albeit with lots of rain. Lots of rain. But it’s the romantic Kilkenny that lies in my head, with the stories shot through with a heavy dose of magic realism. While the stories in the play aren’t ‘about’ Kilkenny, the idea is that they’ll evoke the place anyway. It’s a great city and so many stories happen out there so I thought it might be nice to characterize some of these on stage. And I think that with Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Galway, Limerick and even Wexford (thank you Billy Roche) being represented so strongly by their own indigenous theatre companies that the time was right for us to create something that depicted Kilkenny in the theatre. Hopefully it’ll work out. If not, it’s just a play about lost 20 something’s trying to find their bearings in life! So thematically, it’s just like Trainspotting but minus the skag!

Also, much props to our director Colm Sheenan who has bowled us over with his enthusiasm, energy and dedication to the project. He’s been nothing short of phenomenal, even if his attention to detail is Kubrickish in his analysis of chair positioning! He’s been a wonderful captain of our ship this far and despite all the choppy waters we’ve encountered on our journey I’m sure we’ll arrive at Port Barn on August 20^th full of cheer and of course, grog!

John Morton

Writer

Smitten

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