BLUE RAINCOAT THEATRE COMPANY the playboy of the western world
Foreword Welcome to this evening s performance of JM Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. This is the final show of Blue Raincoat Theatre Company s 23rd season. We come to this production on the back of a very busy summer programme that began with a tour of First Cosmonaut by Jocelyn Clarke to Edinburgh, a play we premiered here in Sligo last autumn. As part of Cairde Arts Festival we performed On Baile s Strand by W.B. Yeats on Cumeen Strand in July. For Tread Softly... we revived a company repertoire piece written by Malcolm Hamilton, A Brief Taste of Lightning and produced our first film Sanctuary, a short piece based on another of Malcolm s plays, which premiered at the festival. We are currently putting the final pieces in place for next year s programme. Plans for the year ahead include a festival of the theatre of Yeats as part of the nationwide Yeats 2015 celebrations. Our company has been the leading professional exponent of the theatre of W.B. Yeats since we began, producing a season of Yeats plays every year in and around July and August. (We acknowledge the role Walter MacDonagh and Sligo Drama circle played in the younger lives of our ensemble founders, a role that inspired us to maintain this tradition over the last 23 years). As such, and given that we are a professional theatre company based in Yeats Country it is incumbent on us to comprehensively represent the theatre of Yeats during the Yeats 2015 celebrations. Our festival of Yeats plays will include new productions alongside our repertoire pieces. In complement to Yeats productions performed here at The Factory we will continue our programme of outdoor performances at sites around County Sligo that were of significance to Yeats. We are also in the early stages of research and development on a new production inspired by the adventures of Ernest Shackleton and his famous Endurance expedition. Production is scheduled for autumn 15/spring 16. The company will undertake two tours next year. Yeats The Cat and the Moon, and Purgatory will be performed in Theatre X (Cai) in Tokyo as part of Japan s third annual Yeats day celebrations. We will also be undertaking a national tour of First Cosmonaut. The Company is currently taking bookings for the 4th annual Blue Raincoat Theatre Academy here at the Factory in January. We hope you enjoy this evening s performance. Thank you for your support. Niall Henry
John Millington Sygne (16 April 1871 24 March 1909) After studying at Trinity College and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Synge pursued further studies from 1893 to 1897 in Germany, Italy, and France. In 1894 he abandoned his plan to become a musician and concentrated on languages and literature instead. He met William Butler Yeats while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1896. Yeats inspired him with enthusiasm for the Irish renaissance advising him to stop writing critical essays and go to the Aran Islands instead to draw material from life. Already struggling against the progression of a lymphatic sarcoma that was to cause his death, Synge lived in the islands during part of each year (1898 1902), observing the people and learning their language, recording his impressions in The Aran Islands (1907) and basing his one-act plays In the Shadow of the Glen (first performed 1903) and Riders to the Sea (1904) on islanders stories. In 1905 his first three-act play, The Well of the Saints, was produced. Synge s travels on the Irish west coast inspired his most famous play, The Playboy of the Western World (1907). First performed at Dublin s Abbey theatre, the audience rioted at its opening in protest against the play s unsentimental treatment of the Irish. The troubles (since known as the Playboy Riots) were encouraged, in part, by nationalists who believed the theatre was insufficiently political and who took offence at Synge's use of the word 'shift'. Much of the crowd rioted loudly, and the actors performed the remainder of the play in dumbshow. The theatre's decision to call in
the police further roused the anger of nationalists. Although press opinion soon turned against the rioters and the protests faded, management of the Abbey was shaken. They chose not to stage Synge's next - and last completed - play, The Tinker's Wedding (1908), for fear of further disturbances. Riots of Irish Americans accompanied the play s opening in New York (1911), and there were further riots in Boston and Philadelphia. Synge remained associated with the Abbey Theatre, where his plays gradually won acceptance. His unfinished Deirdre of the Sorrows, a poetic dramatization of one of the great love stories of Celtic mythology, was performed there in 1910 after his death.
Cast Christy Mahon Bob Kelly Old Mahon Peter Davey Michael James Flaherty Martin McGuire Margaret Flaherty (Pegeen Mike) Sandra O Malley Widow Quin Fiona McGeown Shawn Keogh John Carty Philly O Cullen Barry Cullen Jimmy Farrell Brian F Devaney Artistic Team Direction Design Lighting Sound/Video Design Production Manager Set Construction Lighting Operation Niall Henry Jamie Vartan Barry McKinney Joe Hunt Paul McDonnell Jamie Vartan Paul McDonnell Niamh Devaney
Bob Kelly Bob is a regular collaborator with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company and a graduate of the Ecole de Jacques Lecoq. In 2012 he was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for his work in Blue Raincoat's The Poor Mouth, and since then has received critical acclaim for stage work that has taken him from The Abbey to The Louvre, from the Royal Ballet School to Theatre Massimo to a besieged Parisian squat. So far this year, critics of various performances have accused him of having a tortured face, a wracked body and possessing roaring ferocity, none of which is true. Peter Davey Peter s theatrical experience has been garnered through his lifelong work within amateur dramatics. He has been involved in all aspects of theatrical productions and has won numerous awards for his endeavours. He first worked with Blue Raincoat in 2007 and has provided back stage assistance on all of their productions since. This is his second acting role with the company, his first was Nag playing opposite Sandra O Malley s Nell in Beckett s End Game. Peter s most recent performance was playing the role of Valene in the Beezneez production of Martin McDonagh s The Lonesome West. Martin Maguire Martin has worked in theatre and on screen for almost 30 years. He last toured Sligo with Team Theatre Company and prior to that with an infamous production of Lady Chatterley s Lover. Often cast as gentle father figures such as Bran in The Morbegs or Fergus in Fair City he has also played the opposite end of the spectrum - Barry in Ros na Rún. He has appeared in numerous TV shows including Glenroe, Ballykissangel, The Clinic and The Tudors, and will feature in TG4 s Corp Agus Anam to be broadcast in November. He has written for TV, radio and stage, notably The Long March performed at Greenwich Theatre, New York in 2006 and his radio plays broadcast on RTE in spring/autumn 2005. He has directed shows in Andrew s Lane, Tivoli and Smock Alley in Dublin and educational theatre productions for tours in Scotland, France and Belgium. Martin is member and former chair of Castaway Actors Agency and member of the Guild of Irish Adjudicators. Sandra O Malley Sandra is a graduate of the Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique. She studied under Corinne Soum and Steven Wasson, Etienne Decroux s last assistants. Having performed with their company, she returned to Ireland and has been working with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company since 1997. Sandra has provided workshops both nationally and internationally for University College Galway, the Drama League of Wales and Potsdam International Dance Festival, Germany. She has also directed productions for Sligo Youth Theatre. Fiona McGeown Fiona lives in Cork. She is a teacher, actor, playwright and director. Her company Painted Bird Productions, formed in 2013 has just completed a successful run in Cork s Everyman Theatre and also in this year s Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival with a new work called Between Trees and Water. Scripted by Fiona and Druid s literary manager and dramaturg Thomas Conway, the play picked up the prestigious Fishamble Best Writing Award at the festival and will go on tour in 2015. Painted Bird s next work Shelter will have its first outing as part of Show in the Theatre Development Centre, Cork this November. Fiona is also a lecturer and drama teacher in Cork s Gaiety School of Acting. Originally from Armagh, Fiona has appeared in many of Blue Raincoat Theatre Company productions over the past 20 years, including At-Swim-Two- Birds, The Third Policeman, The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, and Alice in Wonderland. She also recently starred in Monkeyshine Theatre Company s production and national tour of Losha, which you can also catch at The Mad Hatter Children s Theatre Festival in the Hawk s Well on Saturday November 1st. John Carty John trained at the Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in 1988. He worked with Co-Motion Theatre Company and Graffitti Theatre Company before returning to Sligo to become a founder member of Blue Raincoat Theatre Company. He has since trained at The Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique, London, at the Saratoga International Theatre Institute, New York with Anne Bogart and at the Roy Hart Theatre in Malérargues, France. John has appeared in most of the company s productions to date. Barry Cullen Barry is an actor from Sligo. A former member of County Sligo Youth Theatre he recently attended Blue Raincoat Theatre Academy. His most recent projects include On Baile s Strand with Blue Raincoat and B. Stoker with Branching Out Theatre Group. He is also a stand-up comic and regular MC at Spike Sligo Comedy Club. In 2014 he began performing sections from a one-man show about the life of Spike Milligan at Sligo Jazz Festival and as part of Sligo Culture Night. Brian F. Devaney Following his graduation from County Sligo Youth Theatre, Brian trained in Percussion, Dance & Theatre in Wroclaw, Poland. He performed with the National Youth Theatre in 2009 in A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Peacock Theatre, Dublin. Recent performances include The Dreaming of the Bones directed by Sam McCready and On Baile's Strand with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company.
Niall Henry (Director) Niall is from Sligo and is Artistic Director of Blue Raincoat. He studied in Paris with Corrine Soum and Maximillion Decroux returning to Sligo in 1991 to co-found Blue Raincoat with Malcolm Hamilton. He has directed six of Malcolm s plays, most recently A Brief Taste of Lightning and The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. Other shows directed for Blue Raincoat include Hamlet, A Midsummer Night s Dream, The Tempest, Macbeth, Jocelyn Clarke s adaptations of Alice s Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass (co-production Peacock Theatre) and Brendan Ellis Hollow in the Sand. He has directed on two occasions for the National Theatre, J.M. Synge s Playboy of The Western World and Colm Tóibín s Beauty in a Broken Place for abbey one hundred. Niall has directed Jocelyn Clarke s three stage adaptations from the works of Flann O Brien, The Third Policemen, At-Swim-Two-Birds and The Poor Mouth. Jamie Vartan (Set Design) Jamie has designed sets for Blue Raincoat s productions The Chairs, The Third Policeman, The Last Mile, At-Swim-Two-Birds, Rhinoceros, The Poor Mouth and First Cosmonaut. Other designs for Irish theatre include Ballyturk at the Galway Arts Festival 2014, productions at the National Theatre of Ireland including The Playboy Of The Western World and the premiere of Colm Toibin s Beauty In A Broken Place, both directed by Niall Henry; and the one-man show Misterman for the Galway Arts Festival (Irish Times Best Set Design Award 2011 & Evening Standard Best Set Design Nomination). He was involved for three years as designer and artist-in residence with the David Glass Ensemble on The Lost Child Trilogy, including residencies and new devised productions in Vietnam, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Colombia, and the Young Vic, London. Jamie has also designed extensively for opera and for dance. He represented the UK at Prague Quadrennials in 1999, 2007 & 2011, and at World Stage Design 2013 (WSD2013 Best Set Design Award). His design for A Village Romeo and Juliet (Wexford Opera), won the Irish Times Best Set Design Award 2012. Joe Hunt (Technical Manager) Joe has been Technical Manager and Sound Designer with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company since 2001. Prior to this, Joe worked with the Hawk s Well Theatre on lighting and sound operation, as well as stage construction. Joe is also the multi-media designer for Blue Raincoat Theatre Company. Barry McKinney (Lighting Design) Barry has had a long association with the Company, previously designing lighting (and sets on some productions) Birdie Birdie, A Brief Taste of Lightening, Sanctuary, The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, The Bald Soprano, Purgatory, The Poor Mouth, Endgame and First Cosmonaut.
Barry has been Lighting Designer for Livin Dred Theatre Company/NOMAD on their productions Conversations on a Homecoming, The Dead School, The Tinker s Curse, Shoot the Crow and There Came A Gypsy Riding. Barry is a former Director of An Táin Theatre, Dundalk. He recently returned to Sligo to set up a production services company and also completed National Tours with the Orfeo (Opera Theatre Co.), Steel Magnolias (Solar Theatre Productions), Dear Frankie and Guerrilla Days of Ireland (Verdant Productions). Raincoat Theatre Company is a professional ensemble theatre company founded in 1991. Since inception, Blue Raincoat has won consistent critical and popular acclaim for its productions, which range from new work to contemporary presentations of classic work. The company is dedicated to developing audiences locally, nationally and internationally and have performed work at The National Theatre; The Dublin Theatre Festival; and throughout Ireland on an annual basis. Recent international tours have included the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain, Romania, Scotland, Turkey and Bulgaria. Blue Raincoat also run extensive year round arts participation programmes. Company Details Ensemble John Carty, Ciaran McCauley, Sandra O Malley Artistic Director Niall Henry Writer-in-Residence Malcolm Hamilton Administrator Teresa Needham Technical Manager Joe Hunt Front of House Gretta Currid Accountants Sherlock Hamilton & Co Solicitors McDermott, Creed and Martyn Company Patron Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland Blue Raincoat Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges the support of Kevin Quinn Jenny Benito & Klaus Noll Gerard & Erika Collins Tommy & Helen Devaney Cait Flavin Lionel & Joan Gallagher Clive Garland & Terri Gallagher, Edgeworth Organisational Consultants David Gunne & Vonney McCormack Ben & Marie Healy Dr Andy Hodgson Sheila Kilcoyne Dr Klocker, Dieter Kate Mac Donagh & Terence Herron Ronan & Doreen MacEvilly Mary McDonnell, Tír na nóg Ltd Donal McGuiness Eileen & Ray Monahan Paul O'Donnell, Siobhan & James Redahan