the hellfire squad Tag Archive

2078

July 26, 2016 • devious theatre, Theatre

Squad Goals

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The Hellfire Squad kicked off last week for its run in Project Arts Centre. It went down an absolute storm thankfully and we were very surprised (not to mention delighted) to sell out the 7 performance run.

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We’ve been bowled over by the reaction to it. Considering how long we’ve been developing it for, it’s great to see it go down so well with audience members. Here’s an article Peter McGann and myself wrote about the writing of it.

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Devious Theatre complete the home leg of the run from Thursday July 28th to Saturday July 30th in The Watergate Theatre as part of this years AKA festival. We’re delighted to bring it home and hopefully it will be met with the same reaction it was in Dublin. If you fancy a ripping yarn about the origins of Michael Collins’ hit squad, you can book your tickets on 056 – 7761674 or get them online here.

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Here’s some of the plaudits the show has received during its Dublin run.

“McGann and Morton’s script manages to be historically accurate and hilarious” – Sunday Business Post.

“A modern Irish classic” – Pure M Magazine

“Admirably, the playmakers are more interested in a reclamation project, restoring these secret fighters to the record.” – Exeunt Magazine

“The play zips along at breakneck speed under the tight direction of Sarah Baxter” – The Kilkenny People

“An innovative view of the period and shows that we don’t have to treat the heroes of yesteryear with solemnity.” – No More Workhorse

We’ve also made two trailers for the show which you can view here:

God bless the work.

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3856

March 14, 2016 • devious theatre, Theatre

God Bless The Work…

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After 7 years of mild to intensive labour, Peter McGann and myself have finally given birth to The Hellfire Squad. It’ll be the first play focusing solely on Michael Collins infamous hit squad, a Dirty Dozen style adventure about the assembly, training and deployment of a bunch of mismatched assassins in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising. I’m very excited to debut this new play as part of Devious Theatre’s 10th birthday programme, handily entitled Devious 10. The production will be directed by the brilliant Sarah Baxter, who I mostly recently worked with on Taboo, and produced by the bold Ken McGuire, who I have worked on a stupid amount of theatre with over the past 10 years. It will take its debut bow in Project Arts Centre, Dublin from 18-23 July and Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny from 28-30 July as part of this years Alternative Kilkenny Arts programme. God bless the work.

We are about to launch a Fund It campaign for the play so keep an eye out for that and maybe help support the cause.

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1387

July 31, 2013 • devious theatre

Little Deviations: Volume 1

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Devious Theatre are presenting a few works in development this week as part of a scratch show called Little Deviations: Volume 1 (‘cos you never know when you might need to do another).

I’ve been producing the show, directing one of them, have worked on two of them as a writer and will be selling tickets so as usual, I’m overdoing it and I’m a mess. But the show has a really talented line up and I’m beyond excited about seeing what they come up with on the night(s). Altogether it’s 6 writers, 5 directors, 16 actors, 5 future plays, 2 nights, 10 Euros, 120 seats and MAXIMUM theatrical fun.

The plays getting the rehearsed reading treatment over the two nights include:

Girls In Africa by John Kennedy. Mary and Sally want to raise money to undertake charity work in Africa. The easy part? Fundraising. The hard part? Surviving Africa. I’m directing the power houses that are Hazel Doyle, Adrian Kavanagh and Aoibhín Murphy.

Tenterhooks is a new full length play based on an old short play I once wrote. Eddie Murphy directs Leah Egan and Jack Nolan in this darkly comic fairytale set in a variety of suicide and accident blackspots.

The Union by Adrian Kavanagh. A comedy about missing money and chronic hangovers in a sweltering hot students union. Alex Christle directs the cast of Alan Doyle, Peter McGann and Colin O’Brien.

The Hellfire Squad by Peter McGann and meself. Michael Collins wants to set up his own personal hit squad to fight the Brits. But this mission needs some real men. Philip Brennan directs the line up of himself, Richie Cody, Stephen Colfer, Ken McGuire, Niall Morrissey and Annette O’Shea.

Some Flood by John Doran and Kevin Mooney. When a Biblical flood wipes out Ireland, one man takes to his roof to survive. This will be performed and directed by the writers themselves.

That’s the line up and it promises to be a cracking two nights of theatrical bric a brac. If you want to see the show, it plays for two nights only on August 2nd and 3rd in Cleeres Theatre, Kilkenny at 8pm nightly. Tickets can be bought at the venue, booked on 056 – 7762573 or else booked online right here. For more details on all of the plays and some words from the respective writers check out the Devious Theatre website.

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