cleere’s theatre Tag Archive

1685

December 14, 2015 • devious theatre, Theatre

Shut Up And Play The Hits

hsv-teaser-web

Over Devious Theatre way, 10th birthday celebrations are about to kick in for 2016 and the first announcement of what we’re calling Devious 10 has been made. The first Devious Theatre production (and my first play to boot) Heart Shaped Vinyl is getting a fresh spin in a new version in May 2016.

Heart Shaped Vinyl is a theatrical mix tape focusing on pop music, relationships and a whole lot of heartbreak in Ireland over the course of six decades. Originally set between 1962 and 2006, this new version adds a brand new story set in the years 2014 and 2016. The play is broken into Side A and Side B, both of which tell a different side of six different stories featuring an ensemble cast of 14 actors. Here’s the very first poster:

HSV Original

First performed in Cleeres Theatre in August 2006, the show was restaged in June 2007 and again for a one off Rockfall show in October 2007. It’s had a good life since then with a lot of college drama socs and am dram companies producing it. First time we did this show, we were so scared of being a ‘grown up’ theatre company that I didn’t have my name on it as the writer (god bless you Billy Shears) and we made up a fictional director for it (the late Tony M. Everard). Pups we were. It’s weird to return to your first play after 10 years and curse all the things you did when you were starting out. That being said, it seems like a fitting way to cap off what’s been a great 10 year run with a little theatre company we set up in a coffee shop in Kilkenny back in May 2006. So yeah, we’re shutting up and playing the hits. Heart Shaped Vinyl returns to Cleeres Theatre, Kilkenny for eight performances only from 18th-21st and 25th-28th May 2016. The rest of our Devious 10 programme will be launched in the new year. If you want to grab tickets for the show, they’re already on sale right here.

Also, this here is some solid work from Paddy Dunne, who designed the very first Heart Shaped Vinyl teaser in 2006 and who delivered another cracker here for the reissue.

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1439

January 23, 2014 • devious theatre

Some Flood Rising

some-flood_poster-web

The new show from Devious Theatre is John Doran and Kevin Mooney’s apocalyptic new comedy Some Flood.

We’ve just announced it for a work in progress showing at Quarter in Cork on February 1st. It will then be up on its feet for two performances at Collaborations in Smock Alley Theatre on March 5th and 7th. Then we’re heading down to home turf at Cleeres Theatre in Kilkenny for a run from March 11th – 15th.

The show is a darkly comic survival tale about Noah, the last man left in Ireland after a biblical flood wipes out the whole country. It’s looking dangerously topical right now and once people aren’t sick to death of shite weather, hopefully they’ll come see it. The show is going to be performed by Kevin Mooney and Eddie Murphy and directed by John Doran. I’m on producing duties for this one and I’m fierce excited to see Devious Theatre getting more original work by new writers onto the stage.

This teaser poster was designed by Kasia Kaminska and Ken McGuire and they have a main poster a brewing on the horizon which I’m very excited about.

For more on the show, including tickets, head over and check out devioustheatre.com

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1231

August 24, 2012 • devious theatre

A Ghost Of A Play

Phantasm has just hit Kilkenny for the first of five performances during this years OUT For The Weekend festival.

This is our third run around with John Kennedy’s new play after previously playing Solstice, Cork and Abhainn Ri, Callan throughout the summer. It’s lovely to bring the play back home to Kilkenny, especially to Cleeres Theatre. We return there six years to the week that we opened our very first play Heart Shaped Vinyl in the theatre on August 22nd 2006. It’s all fuzzy and nostalgic being back there after all this time. It’s also the first time I’ve directed a full play there so it’s pretty cool to get to stage one in the place we started.

I wrote a piece about that for the Devious Theatre website earlier this week. Specifically about the new blood that we’ve brought into the troupe in the past 18 months… or Pass Devious as Colin O’Brien likes to call them. Here’s a bit of regurgitation:

What was really strange was looking at the contrast in what we were producing now and yet, how similar it was at the same time. We were looking at the three guys now, specifically John Kennedy (the writer) and Colin O’Brien and Hazel Doyle (our cast). They’re all from Kilkenny, all brought through the same youth theatre mill as us and like us six years ago, here they are in Cleeres Theatre at a young age doing their first original play for an audience in there. Six years ago, Hazel had just done her first play with Dreamstuff Youth Theatre (the first play I ever directed incidentally) and John and Colin were probably out kicking ball like most 12 year old pups during a World Cup summer. In our youthful wisdom, we were shocked when people packed out Heart Shaped Vinyl in 2006. People wanted to see us make our own theatre? Hell, we didn’t even put our own real names on it, such was the fear of landing on our arses (props to Billy Shears and Tony M. Everard by the way). The lads now still have that slight wariness that people won’t be bothered seeing what they’re doing. But they will. Six years on we’ve worked hard to make sure that there is an audience for them. And that audience has been there to see them throughout this summer in Cork, Callan and now, Kilkenny. We’ve toured it, we’ve played to different crowds in unique places, to theatre people and non theatre people, people who just want to see a good teen stoner comedy and people who have no idea what to expect, and it has always gone down well. And now we bring it home.

So yeah, it’s a bit of a home coming in more ways than one. The reception to the opening performance last night was really special. There was a lovely vibe in Cleeres Theatre and we had a packed house and even though the fucking bed broke so what more can you ask for? Well, probably for people to keep on coming to see it. It’s our last play of the year so try and grab it before the final show at 10pm on Saturday!

If you haven’t seen it already, here’s the trailer for the play:

Phantasm runs tonight and tomorrow at 7pm and 10pm. Tickets are €8 and can be bought at Cleeres Theatre, Parliament Street or booked on 056-7762573 or else you can grab them online here.

 

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1207

October 4, 2011 • bash: latterday plays, devious theatre

The Bash Posters

Last week we unveiled a whole series of posters for Devious Theatre’s upcoming production of Neil LaBute’s bash: latterday plays. There’s one for each of the plays within bash: iphigenia in orem, a gaggle of saints and medea redux. They’ve been excellently designed as usual by Paddy Dunne. I’m going to be appearing in iphigenia in orem, possibly with my hand over my mouth for a while. And here’s the posters:

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1368

September 13, 2011 • devious theatre, Theatre

So, There Was This Bash…

The next Devious Theatre production is going to be bash: latterday plays by Neil LaBute.

After the In The Future When All’s Well season we were looking forward to a nice long break. But well… we got the new premises and wanted to get some use out of it this year. Also, we’re suckers for punishment.

We’ve been looking to do something by Neil LaBute for quite some time, as we’re really big fans of his writing. So when we decided to do another production before the end of 2011, we took it as a welcome opportunity to finally stage one of his plays.

And that play is bash, one of his most controversial works. It consists of three monologues that tell seemingly normal stories from normal people but, yup, they’re anything but. Like a lot of LaBute’s stage work (The Shape Of Things, reasons to be pretty, Wrecks, Fat Pig) it takes a look at the dark impulses that drive civilised people. We’ve given it the tagline of ‘Three Horror Stories Of Everyday Evil’ which sums up our take on it. We’re doing it around Halloween time but it’s a bit of an unconventional choice of ‘horror’ material. It’s more of a gut punching, nauseating, awkward kind of experience. Way to build it up, eh? In short, it’s a fucking excellent piece of writing and we’re very excited. It’s a real departure from our trademark style of comedy so I hope we deliver with something ‘deviant’.

I’ll be acting in Iphigenia In Orem, which I’m thrilled to perform. It’s the story of a young businessman who makes a confession to a stranger in a Las Vegas bedroom. Rehearsals started last week under the sturdy hand of Ken McGuire and I’m pretty sure it’s going to preclude me from much of a social life for the next month. I’m also doing some directing myself for Medea Redux which is being performed by Annette O’Shea, and based on what she’s already showed us, it’s going to be epic. The final piece is A Gaggle Of Saints performed by Amy Dunne and Ken McGuire and directed by Annette O’Shea.

So that’s the basic info on the play. We’re going to be performing it in the intimate surroundings of Cleere’s Theatre from October 17th – 22nd. You can tickets online here. I’ll write more about it as I have more to write. I really need to go and start learning my lines.

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