Tom Crean, the intrepid Antarctic explorer and one of Ireland’s unsung heroes, is brought to life in this dramatic and humorous solo performance by Aidan Dooley. Crean’s story is a testament of human fortitude against all the elements of the Antarctic, his 36 mile, solitary trek to base camp during the Terra Nova expedition to rescue his
Join us for a reading of I Am Mrs Daisy Bates, presented by Speckintime. This is a free event and all interested parties are welcome to attend. Speckintime is developing a piece of theatre based on the extraordinary life of Tipperary woman Daisy Bates. There has been extensive research on the life of Daisy Bates
The Odd Theatre Company is proud to present the Irish premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning musical comedy. This hilarious show follows the fortunes of six quirky kids (all of whom are played by adults), each hoping to win the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing funny and
The Odd Theatre Company is proud to present the Irish premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning musical comedy. This hilarious show follows the fortunes of six quirky kids (all of whom are played by adults), each hoping to win the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing funny and
In the winter of 1847 the famine ship Star of the Sea sets sail for the Promised Land. Among the passengers are a maidservant, a ruined lord, and a ruthless murderer. Moving between the wild landscape of Connemara, grimy London streets, and the claustrophobic confines of the famine ship, this sweeping production charts the lives
New Year’s Eve. A house party like any other, in a suburb like any other. Two very different strangers meet, each looking for a new start and to shake off the disappointments of the past. But champagne, cheap lager and their chance encounter leads this unlikely couple to an unplanned pregnancy. Against all odds, can
Is hunger stronger than love? In this story it seems to be as the poor woodsman’s empty stomach goes to his head, he gives in to the bony step-mother and they leave Hansel and Gretel in the forest, not just once but twice and the second time there won’t be any moonstones to follow back
From the creators of Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, Christmas Gothic, I, Elizabeth, Dalloway, The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe and Austen’s Women. 2018: In this age of uncertainty, where the shadows of tyranny, intolerance and war darken the path into tomorrow, how much time do we have left? If civilisation falls today, what will become of us? Rebecca Vaughan presents
Bottom Dog Theatre Company return to Riverbank Arts Centre with Drinking in America. This award winning one man show features acclaimed actor Liam O’Brien playing 12 distinct different roles. From a grasping show-biz hustler; a latter-day Willy Loman on the road; and a ghetto junkie, OBrien presents the most challenging work of a career that
Two plays, two stories. Each starts out at the same time on the stage. One is oblivious to the other. One play fights to be the story that we hear and see. The other will be the one unheard and forgotten. Neither the actors nor the audience knows which play will take control of the
Following a critically acclaimed international tour that included Dublin Theatre Festival; Sadler’s Wells, London and Sydney Opera House, The winner of best production and best costume design at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017 comes to Newbridge Town Hall for two nights only. From the imagination of one of Ireland’s foremost dance and theatre makers
Comedian Sharon Mannion pens a hilarious show based on her worries, fears and adventures growing up in a Roscommon village. Will she live up to the expectations of her ex-showband star father and her Midwest FM radio-loving mother? On receiving a shiny button accordion, Sharon is thrust into the local limelight. But things soon turn sour, when
What Would Ma Say?, a hilarious play based on the best-seller of the same name. Kathleen Doyle tells the true story of her remarkable family and their exploits growing up in Dublin in the tenements in the 1950’s and her teenage years in Crumlin in the early 1960’s. Kathleen describes Ma as an ordinary woman
Adam, an American doctor, Edward, an Irish journalist, and Michael, an English academic, have little to unite them beyond being human in the same small space. Yet somehow, together, they determine to ward off madness and forestall despair. Somewhere lurk their unseen captors yet, in the cell, there are stories of adventure and love, there
Seamus O’Rourke once again brings us a story full of heartache and humour, as a pair of aging, rural, bachelor brothers arrive at a point in their lives, where decisions have to be made about certain things… well the buying of a television for one… and one subject leads to another and the next thing,
A heartfelt comedy drama about love, starring Pat Nolan (Fair City) and Rosemary Henderson (Fair City and Father Ted). ‘Take off your Corn Flakes’ tells the story of a fun filled marriage that hits crisis when Pats character gets Alzheimer’s. When we go out of our mind, where do we go? Full of tears, joy
1981 Belfast. Norah McVeigh is battling to save her brother Kyran. He made the decision to go on hunger strike and has lost consciousness. Norah is now faced with the difficult decision to respect his political choice or save his life. Through confrontations with the British Foreign Office, the Catholic Church, the RUC, the IRA,
Set in Belfast in the early 2000s, My Left Nut tells the true story of Michael Patrick who developed hydrocele testis when he was 14, a condition which caused one of his testicles to start swelling. Too embarrassed to tell his mother, he let the condition worsen for three years until he couldn’t ignore it
AUTUMN ROYAL - Written by Kevin Barry, the multi-award winning writer of the novels Beatlebone and City Of Bohane, is coming to the Riverbank Arts Centre! Following the success run of its world premiere last year, Autumn Royal by Kevin Barry embarks on a nationwide tour, and comes to the Riverbank Arts Centre 18-19 May.
Newbridge Drama Group is back, this time taking on Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. It is a story of tender love and murderous jealousy; of lives destroyed by false accusations; of passion and adultery and sin and of a storm of terror let loose through the effects of real and pretended mass hysteria on the
One of your own – a vote for Tull is a vote for yourself! THE SUCCESSFUL TD follows the Trials, Tribulations, misadventures and hilarious antics of TULL McADOO as he seeks re-election to the Dail in the "October Elections” Written by John B Keane in 1967 he displays his edge for humor and satire that are uncomfortably close to the politics of
It's the height of Summer and temperatures aren't the only things on the rise. Bloodlust is on the boil and there's savagery simmering when one of the nation's most powerful men invites the great and the good to a midsummer night's feast. Murder, revenge and pollen are in the air as the long days draw
Down at Heel Productions, with the aid of Kildare County Council Arts Service, present A Tale of the Expected, a bittersweet comedy by novelist Martina Reilly. Lana is eighteen and pregnant. The father is Roman, aka, Mr Party Central and his family run the local chipper. Lana is determined to have the baby while the
One month before his death, retired civil servant and man of few words Paddy O’Grady had a sudden urge to talk. Using a portable cassette tape recorder, he recorded 15 hours of stories about leprechauns, aliens and lonely pharmacists; absurdist political satire; musings on life, love and death. Paddy’s granddaughter, Emma O’Grady, later discovered he
Karamazoo is a 25 minute monologue for a young performer written in 2003 by London writer Philip Ridley. It is one of the most perfect pieces of writing for a young actor, combining fresh storytelling and comic characterisation that slowly reveals an unflinching critique of a failed social policy through the savage grief of a
Hero by Ken Rogan is an original work about a man’s struggles with love. Life quickly grows more complicated for Smithy (Daithí Mac Suibhne) after a chance encounter with Marissa. This is one man's hilarious, down to earth odyssey through love, ankle injuries and what happens when you don't know how to lose. “It’s a
Desperately funny and yet deeply tragic, FRANK PIG SAYS HELLO is one of the great classics of modern Irish theatre. It tells the story of Francie Brady growing up in a small Irish town in the 1960s and his descent towards a brutal act that shocks his community. Described as “one of the saddest and
Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you and full as much heart! The young, orphaned Jane meets with cruelty at the hands of her aunt and then at the school to which she is banished. She
Holy Mary by Eoin Colfer is the story of two nine year old girls on the days leading up to the social occasion of the year: Their First Holy Communion. Mary and Majella have been mortal enemies since baby infants, and things have gotten even worse since Mary’s daddy moved in with Majella’s mammy. Both
It’s Dublin in the 1980s. Rabbit is a self-made haulage magnate. But something’s wrong. He cuts a deal with his underling Keogh to help him find his lost moorings. The quest is hampered by his dead father Bat, Citizen Army volunteer and pawn shop assistant, bubbling up. The struggle between father and son, past and
Once upon a time, two fair maidens dragged fairy tales kicking and screaming into the 21st century in this sharp and original review of all things “happily ever after”. Follow the trail of breadcrumbs to see your favourite bedtime stories poked with a big stick before being tossed into a cauldron with physical comedy and
By the Bog of Cats is Marina Carr’s searing tragedy inspired by Euripides’ Medea and set in the Irish midlands. Spurned by the man she loves Hester Swaine lives as an outcast on the edge of the bog from where most of the settled community want her gone. Faced with the loss of her home
From the team that brought you Forgotten, Underneath and the Olivier Award-winning Silent, Before is a new play with much music, set in Clery’s of Dublin, on the very day this iconic department store shuts - for good. Pontius is inside, trying to choose a gift for his estranged daughter, whom he hasn’t seen for
THE MATCHMAKER stars Mary McEvoy (best known for her role as Biddie in the long-running RTE series Glenroe) and Irish actor and comedian Jon Kenny (part of the Irish comic duo d’Unbelievables). Jon Kenny is also well known for appearing in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. Together they play a myriad of characters in
A young boy leaves home for the first time, a man begins a job for which he is not qualified, a pensioner receives a mysterious package. As each man confronts the significance of these events, they are forced to take stock of themselves, their feelings, and of the decisions they have made. Painting a vivid
In a pool in post-earthquake New Zealand, recent emigrant Maeve is learning to swim. Self-professed ‘swimaholic’ coach Doreen eggs her on. But as she struggles to stay afloat, Maeve must do battle with the water and an unresolved dilemma with her much-loved father back home. Mixing serious themes with warm humour, Remember to Breathe is
Ten 42 Productions in association with Interactive Theatre International (Faulty Towers - The Dining Experience) presents a brand new show. Transporting guests to The Nags Head for some wheeling, dealing and eating, this fully immersive, highly interactive theatre show makes for a t’riffic night out – you’d be a plonker to miss it! Del Boy
So, you are 18. You go abroad to third level. You are a second year in the University of Wittenburg. You study Philosophy and Greek and Roman Civilization. Tragically, your father dies while you are in your first semester of second year. You return home for the funeral, which is massive: people from everywhere come
There's one in every town, and they call her the Pumpgirl. She works in the garage, changes the oil and thinks she's one of the lads. She's sweet on 'No-Helmet' Hammy, but he loves no one but himself. He's out all night with his racing boys, whilst wife Sinead's off on a joyride of her
And thank you... is a play about an ordinary man living in rural Ireland who gets saved... Saved from a life of pub talk and prophesizing... King John O’Sullivan used to be able to drink fifteen pints without having to piddle, now, it’s every nine. Going to The Gents so often can wear a man
Riff Raff Drama Group are back! The Newbridge drama group present the premiere of a hilarious new play, The Will to Surprise by Dave Tiernan, which will leave you in tears of laughter. Old Joe Murphy has passed away, his family are called to hear his last will and testament in his cottage in the
This is a chance for local audiences to see The Small Hours by Katherine Soper prior to it being staged in the Dorfman in The National Theatre in London. The Small Hours captures a moment in the lives of 8 teenagers and then follows them through the decades, through climate change and a changing world,
Rehearsed reading of new play by Newbridge-based actor/writer Mary Ryan. Two worlds collide in the Meath Gaeltacht, when a song collector from inner city Dublin arrives for the local festival. Aggy (85) is a Kildare widow, determined to perform her songs and exhibit the lifetime of trophies she has won at local shows, despite neighbour
In a kitchen, in a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find something remarkable; a very old man with enormous wings. Starting from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story 'A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings', Collapsing Horse bring this classic piece of magic-realism to the stage. A young couple find an injured old man outside
Sophie and Ben love each other a lot, but sometimes, they make that a bit too difficult for themselves. Two twenty-somethings who are trying to find their way in the world, they guide us through their lives of low-key alcoholism, deeply rooted regret, and unfortunate sexual mishaps. Join Sophie and Ben as they impart some