Thursday 24th April

PHOENIX PLAYERS

present

       "The Man From Clare"

by JOHN B. KEANE

CAST

Pakey..........................................................................................................................Colin Callanan

Petey............................................................................................................................Patrick Walsh

Daignan................................................................................................................... Tom Mekitarian

Cooney............................................................................................................................Colm McGee

Frank........................................................................................................................... Dermot Hurley

Jim Flynn ...................................................................................................................... Eanna Scully

Padraic O'Dea............................................................................................................... Gerry Maye

Brid........................................................................................................................ Caroline Gunning 

Morisheen Brick.................................................................................................Eamonn Gallagher

Elsie McDonagh ...............................................................................................Caroline McGowan

Other Footballers........ Eamonn Coleman, Sean Maye, Paddy Joe Connolly, Seamus Brennan, Lionel Davey.

                                                              Director: Seana Haughey

                                                      Stage Manager: John James Maye

                                                             Lighting: Tom Callanan

                                                               Sound: Enda Murtagh

                                                             Costumes: Maria Durkin

Props & Continuity: Gemma Noone, Evelyn Flannery

                                             Make-up: Veronica Corscadden, Eileen Davey

                                                           Set Design: Seana Haughey

Stage Crew: Lionel Davey, Paddy Joe Connolly, Seamus Brennan, Sean Maye.

 Period: The play is set in the early 1960's.

Act 1: Scene 1: Cuas Harbour on a May morning with dawn just minutes away.

Act 1: Scene 2: The kitchen of Morisheen Brick's home in north Kerry, near midnight. 

Act 1: Scene 3: As before, one hour later.

Act 2: Scene 1: As before, one hour later, 

Act 2: Scene 2: As before, daybreak.

The Play: The theme of the play is woven round an annual challenge match between the footballers of Cuas and Bealaabawn, Both teams are drawn from tiny communities and each community viewed the annual game as a great sporting and social occasion. This year it is the turn of the Cuas lads to travel across the Shannon to Bealabawn. The events that take place over the course of the game and into the night afterwards mark a turning point in the life of the team captain, Padraic O'Dea. Recognised as the best footballer who ever came out of Clare, he is faced with the reality of age catching up with him. He has given his life to football and wonders where it has got him in terms of personal happiness. While his knees may no longer respond as they once did, for the first time in this life, he stands up on his own two feet.

The Group: Based in Tubbercurry in South Sligo, the Phoenix Players was formed in 1945, just two years after the first Western Drama Festival which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The group has performed on the festival circuit over the years with notable success throughout the 1980's, qualifying for Confined and Open Finals. Throughout the 1990's the group concentrated on big shows at home, including a mamoth passion play and a number of hugely successful musicals. Now firmly back on the festival circuit with successful productions of "Drama At lnish" and "Autumn Fire" in recent years, we pride ourselves on presenting plays at the highest level, always with a view to entertaining the most important group of people in any theatre - you, the audience.