A Two Act Comedy
By Clare Melley Smith     Directed By Kate McNally

The Play

This play is based on “Christmas Stories and Letters of a Country Postman” By John B. Keane. Published by Mercier Press.

As the play opens we are introduced to the life of a postman in the village of Lisnacoo in County Kerry, a long time ago. It’s Christmas and the post office is a very busy place. However the postman Mocky Fondoo takes time out to read excerpts from letters and relate the stories of his experiences as a postman on his daily rounds. Tales of match-making, seduction, job-hunting, fortune telling, intoxication, hope, bickering etc. contribute to the story. Many of the stories are acted out but some are read out as the scenes blend harmoniously throughout the entire production with the main cast members playing many different roles.

Although the plot is non-conventional, the dialogue, lighting and sound all transform the play into a smooth production at times involving the audience. This is certainly a very funny play none the less some scenes are very touching.

The Cast

A Comedy in Three Acts
By Peter Cunningham     Directed By Larry Coughlin

The Play

“Getting Buried”is set in the family room of the French household. The family owns the local hardware store which is managed by Terence French in Holybank, west of Dublin. His wife, Helen French does the accounting and secretarial work. Terence owns 40% of the business, his mother Statia owns 50% and his sister Hetty owns 10%.The play opens on the day Statia French dies aged 93 and the family are beginning to gather for the funeral There’s Walter French (Terry”s uncle), Hetty (his sister), and Desmond his brother and-oh yes-there’s Delia(Helens sister from Dublin.) The play is full of surprises. When Hetty hires a detective to investigate French Hardware she gets more than she bargained for, boy, did she ever. While Delia and Terrence are planning for an easy life in the sun and the ever capricious Walter is dreaming in an equestrian fantasy land, along comes Desmond and throws a wrench in the works. The shenanigans are hilarious but show the weak side of human nature when sex and money are the driving factors. The hardworking, trusting Helen has her eyes opened for her and the scheming woebegone Terence and Delia geet their just deserts. “And all’s well that ends well”

Warning!! Adult Theme Adult Language!

The Cast

A Comedy in Three Acts
By Anne Nichols     Directed By Mick Kenna

The Play

This play was first produced in New York on May 23, 1922 by the author Anne Nichols. It was a great hit with audiences and ran for more than 2,300 performances. The play deals with two families, one Jewish and one Irish. Solomon Levi lives in New York with his son Abie; together they run a successful business. Patrick Murphy is a successful contractor living in California with his daughter Rose Mary. The young couple met in Europe during the war where Abie was serving in the army and Rose Mary was an entertainer. They planned to be married when they returned to the US.

When the play opens you meet Levi’s neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, you won’t forget them. You also meet Dr. Jacob Samuels who is Mr. Levi’s rabbi. We learn that Abie and Rose Mary were secretly married by a Methodist minister over a week ago now and Abie has a plan to get his father to like Rose Mary so he presents her to his father as a young, charming, orthodox Jewish girl and not the Irish Catholic girl that she is. The plan works and his father becomes entranced by the girl so much that he starts preparations for a Jewish wedding. He is determined that Abie will marry this Jewish girl that he calls “Rosie” In the meantime Patrick Murphy gets a call in California to say his daughter is to be married in New York to an Irish Catholic. With his priest Father Whalen, who is to perform the wedding ceremony, Patrick arrives late at the Levi house just as Dr. Samuels is completing the wedding ceremony and then Patrick Murphy and Solomon Levi realize the truth. Both fathers are furious at the deception, and vow to annul the marriage. Just to be sure Father Whalen celebrates the marriage for the third time. The wedding feast consists of ham and kosher trimmings.

It’s now Christmas Eve and more than one year later and each grandfather knows that Abie and Rose Mary have a baby (their grandchild). Since they have had no contact with their kids since the wedding they don’t know if the baby is a boy or a girl; Solomon arrives bearing gifts for a boy while Patrick arrives with gifts for a girl. See some slapstick shenanigans going on between the two grandparents and find out who choose correctly or did Abie and Rose Mary have a surprise for both of ’em?

The Cast

A Comedy in Three Acts
By J. B. MacCarthy     Directed By Christina Garrivan

The Play

The Able Dealer is a lighthearted comedy set in the parlor of the Cogan residence in the village of Knockmore in the early 60s. Simon Daly-just released from hospital-who is penniless and d estitute but owns some worthless land is looking for a place to spend his final days on this earth with either his grand-nephew Michael J. Cogan or his grand-niece Nancy Carroll, but neither one of them has any interest in him or his useless few acres. However, he does have a friend in Peggy Cogan, Michael and Annie Cogan’s daughter. Peggy has taken a liking to Simon and keeps him informed of the going-ons in her household.

During his stay in hospital, Simon met up with Professor Hayden and both men developed a lasting friendship.The ingenious Professor Hayden always seems to arrive on the scene when our Simon needs him most and manages to save the day for Simon. Due to the efforts of the professor the useless land has become valuable. Watch as his conniving relatives juggle Simon to and fro in an effort to grab the land while all the time the good professor stays one step ahead of them protecting his friend Simon.

MacCarthy takes a look at how we perceive ourselves when dealing with avarice and greed and maybe finds us wanting! The play is peppered with irony and a little sarcasm but you’ll laugh your heart out at it, maybe even relate to some of the characters.

The Cast

A Drama in Three Acts
By Seán O’Casey     Directed By Robert Fox

The Play

The setting is in the tenement home of the Boyle family in Dublin in 1922. Captain Boyle, also known as “the paycock” is a lazy lout and spends his days with his friend Joxer in the local pub, when they can afford it. Mrs Boyle (Juno) can hardly keep the family together, money is so scarce. Their son, Johnny, is a cripple as a result of a bullet received in The 1916 Rebellion. He is nervous and paranoid due to a fear of the Free Staters and now his own Irregulars want him for the betrayal of Commandant Tancred. Daughter, Mary, has high hopes and fancy tastes for a better life. She has discarded her lover, Jerry Devine, a trade-union organizer for a handsome school teacher and law student, Charles Bentham. The family are well received and get along in harmony with their neighbors.

The Captain learns he is about to inherit a fortune and the family becomes high and haughty with their working-class friends and neighbors. The whole family goes on a shopping spree and they rack up some serious debt. They have stretched their credit with local business and tradesmen to the limit. However, as the “sand-castles” start to disintegrate around them the Paycock and his good side-kick Joxer remain oblivious to it all.

O’Casey has given us a look at life in Dublin under the thumb of the colonizer. ( A far cry from the modern Dublin of today ) and his timeless witticism can be best appreciated in the Paycock’s final line in the play. “The whole world’s in a terrible state of chaos.”

The Cast

A Drama in Two Acts
By John Murphy     Directed By Larry Coughlin

The Play

Set in the kitchen of the Maher house in Co. Mayo in the mid fifties “The Country Boy” takes a penetrating look at the mores, the hopes and the dreams of the rural population regarding emigration and marriage in that era. For those of you who remember Ireland in the 1950s, welcome back to your youth. For those of you who are fascinated with what it would be like to emigrate and find a new life on foreign shores, forget the fascination.

As the plot unfolds we meet Eddie and his American wife Julia back from New York for a months vacation only to find that this fascination has grasped his younger brother Curley who sees no future for himself in Ireland and who can’t wait to get to the US. As it turns out, Eddie did not find the land of his dreams in New York. Some hard times, a bout with the bottle, a troubled marriage and a devastating homesickness for the land and the girl he left behind made him rue the day he ever left Ireland and he was determined Curley would not make the same mistake. The play is unusual in that it treats emigration as unnecessary and suggests that the dream can be fulfilled by staying at home in Ireland. Real problems, personal and social are examined and discussed, revealing the innermost thoughts and feelings of the people involved including: The banter between Eddie and Curley; Eddie reminiscent about his boyhood; Julia’s heart wrenching monologue designed to get Eddie off the bottle and save her marriage. Rounding out the cast are: The crusty, stubborn, Tom Maher with a “heart of gold” and his better half the ever-thoughtful and delightful Mary Kate, and last but not least the fair and lovely red-haired Eileen with the twinkling eyes and melodious tones of a sweet cailín.

John Murphy, using his keen wit and creative skills has gathered this cast together in an extraordinary play that makes for an enchanting evening at the theatre.

The Cast

A Comedy in Two Acts
By John B. Keane     Directed By Christina Garrivan

The Play

Welcome to the parish of Ballast and to the rectory where Cannon Pratt, Father Brest and Father Loran are leading a quiet settled existence. Quiet, that is, until the currency goes decimal, their excellent house-keeper marries an American and moves to the US, and is replaced by Moll (Miss Mollie Kettle). Moll sides with the powers that be to the detriment of all others. “‘Tis hard Canon to come back to the plain black and white when one is used to the purple.” Moll feeds the Canon lavishly while insisting that curates can live on bread alone…and not much of that, she has cut the food budget in half. The church needs a new roof and the school is in dire need of repair. The cunning, manipulativeMoll has moved in and is taking advantage of the Cannon’s indifference to run the parish. To augment the budget we now have fund raising schemes including a weekly bingo. Father Brest dislikes bingo, and thinks it’s a disease; guess who’s in charge of bingo! A new choir has started and is a great hit with the parishioners, Father Loran who couldn’t carry a note in a bushel basket is in charge. But wait ’till you see what happens when the Bishop visits the parish.

This is another of John B. Kean’s comedies. There is much of the wit and humor for which John B. is famous. He often said he got his best material from the tales he heard across the bar in his pub, Moll is certainly among the best. Toss your cares to the wind and mosey over for a laugh-filled evening with Gaelic Park Players presentation of Moll.

The Cast

A Comedy in Two Acts
By Thomas Coffey     Directed By Larry Coughlin

The Play

The play is set in the kitchen (at the back of his shop) in Badger Grey’s house. It is a comedy, a little far fetched, but one I think you’ll enjoy. Having read of an unsuccessful bank robbery in Dublin, Badger and his friends plan a “successful” robbery of their own, just to show how it could be done. No intention of doing it. To the town’s amazement there is a bank robbery two days later, carried out in accordance with Badger’s plan! You won’t believe the mayhem, accusations and shenanigans that follow the robbery when you meet the gruff spoken Badger and his hair-brained wife Sarah, along with Noreen, their pretty flirtatious daughter who has a crush on the local sergeant and, she is also attracted to Tony, a business-man in town for a few days. Then there is Jerreen, Badger’s brother and Mickey, his nephew, a wanna-be boxer who is an apprentice to Jerreen, and you’ll also meet Windy, Badger’s next-door neighbor.

This side splitting comedy will have the audience rolling in their seats with laughter. The play is articulate, the characters mesh very well in a free flowing dialogue, and Coffey has granted ’em the opportunity to be creative and artistic. This is a laugh filled comedy that will grant respite from your daily grind and you’ll leave the theatre thinking “good show”

The Cast

A Contemporary Farce In Two Acts
By Eamonn Kelly     Directed By Katie Flynn McKirdie

The Play

Set in a cheap tenement in Dublin on a Wintery day in 1988 “Frugal Comforts” is laced with the dark humor that was common to that era.

The author draws on the losers from the seamy side of Dublin for his characters, and finds ’em. Dave, in his early thirties, is hopeful but unemployed, looking for work and renting flat 1. Crawley in his late thirties is an ex-con, an abrasive petty thug and renting flat 2, Layman , in his late teens and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, has left home, is Dave’s nephew. Andy, in his early thirties dresses well and is proud of his job as a crime-boss goon. Mularkey, in his fifties is the landlord and maintenance man. Sloppy dresser, uncouth, has a bad heart.

This comedy weaves a fine thread connecting the characters in a thinly veiled plot but because “The best laid plans of mice and men do often times go wrong” everyone’s world comes crashing down
as events go terribly wrong, surprise follows surprise in a series of bungled blunders for all concerned. This play will keep you guessing to the very end.

The Cast

A Two Act Drama
By John B. Keane     Directed By Kristen Dakewicz

The Play

The Field is possibly John B. Keane’s best known play, and the character “Bull” McCabe the most admired by any afficionado of Mr Keane’s literary works. This powerful play explores the fascination and the dedication the Irish had for the land and deals with the problems of a local farmer (the “Bull”) who has been renting a field from a widow woman Maggie Butler for over five years and now Maggie is selling The Field at public auction. After all his hard work the “Bull” has turned The Field into a green pasture where his cattle graze and thru which he has access to water. He feels he has a sweat equity in The Field and hatches a plot to buy it for a fair price as determined by him and his son Tadhg.

Another interested party arrives to buy The Field and build a concrete block factory on it. The “Bull” will not allow this to happen “to his field” and so he hatches a plan to prevent it, however, when the plan goes awfully wrong with tragic consequences, watch how the local peasants collude in a conspiracy of silence against the church and the law. The local police and the clergy try to resolve the situation, but to no avail. The Bishop preaches a sermon on Sunday at mass and the sergeant and the priest question the local people, but, the silence is deafening. As we watch the play unfold it brings home to many of us how hardships and decisions of the past affect the future and the resulting consequences not only for the “Bull” and his family , but for the entire village.

The Cast