Wedding Day at The Cro-Magnons'

Bedrock Productions

Written by Wajdi Mouawad

Translated by Shelley Tepperman

Directed by Jason Byrne

Featuring: Caitríona Ní Mhurchú, Conor Madden, Gerard Kelly, Louise Lewis, Nyree Yergainharsian, Phil Kingston

In an apartment in a war-torn city in the Middle East, a family is having a wedding party.  It should be one of the happiest days in their lives.

However, the bride is narcoleptic.  The mother and father keep fighting.  The neighbour keeps bringing in food.  The teenage brother's hobby is identifying incoming missiles from their sound.  The electricity keeps going off.  The mutton for the feast is standing on the landing, going ‘baa'.

One last thing; the bride isn't engaged to anyone.  But that's the least of their problems.

"There's surrealism, buffoonery, poetry, absurdity, sorrow, rebellion and above all, delight; there isn't a dull moment.  (...) It's fresh, hilariously invigorating, representing the language of a new generation and also illustrating the strength and brilliance of the fortunate mixture of cultures." 

- Jean Beaunoyer, La Presse

Smock Alley Studio

15-25 October

Booking information:
Smock Alley Theatre Studio, Essex St. West, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 (entrance via Essex Quay)

Previews | 14/15 October 8pm
Opens | 16 October 8pm
Runs until | 25 October 8pm
Tickets | €14 (conc)/€22

Booking | Central Ticket Bureau 0818 205 205 or online at www.ctb.ie or in person at Smock Alley Theatre Box Office up to ½ hour before the performance or Central Ticket Bureau, 33 Eden Quay, Dublin

Bondi

Bondi @ Smock Alley

Previews - Oct 6th & 7th.  Runs - Oct 8th to 11th 2008.

Directed by Donal Courtney.

Starring: Tom Casey, Sonia Gamble, Michael Wallace & Daryll Whyte.

Tickets:  Previews - 10euro.  Performances:  15/12euro.

Tickets available from - 0818 205 205, www.ctb.ie & Central Ticket Bureau, Liberty Hall, 33 Eden Quay, Dublin 1.

Bondi Beach Boy Blue:

Australia- the great southern land. A land girt by sea and pissed by lunchtime. Home to nine of the ten most poisonous creatures on earth. To Crocodile Dundee. To Skippy. To sixty million sheep. Home also, albeit briefly, to tens of thousands of young people from Ireland and the UK, who each year forsake lukewarm summers and so-so winters to fly south in search of adventure, warm sun and cold beer. Sooner or later they all end up in Sydney. Lured by the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, golden beaches and soaps, many are snared by the bright lights of eastern Sydney and the myriad of watering holes jam-packed with fellow travellers. In the midst of this superhighway of youth and excitement, it's easy to escape ...

Armed with passport and not much else, Declan- accompanied by his best friend Gary, gravitates toward Ireland's 35th county, Bondi. Disillusioned with life at home, he is seeking pastures new. In a land of sun, fun and a thousand friendly faces, ten thousand miles from home, with the Olympics coming, it's an exciting time. It's a chance to start again. Can Declan take it? Or is any attempt at escape doomed to failure?

Bondi Beach Boy Blue is Declan's story. The story of his relationship with his father, Gary- his best mate, his uncle Donie and the women in his life-  Lisa and Emma. The story of the set of problems he ran away from in Ireland and what he ran into in Australia.

Go dTaga do Ríocht

Venue: Smock Alley Theatre

Dates: 2nd, 3rd, 4th October 2008

Time: 8.00pm

Tickets: €15/€10/€8 (group rate)

Call 091 562 024 for tickets & information.

''...there is much to admire in Micheál Ó Conghaile's complex new play Go dTaga do Ríocht....a sensitive study of how life can be shaped and stunned by inflexible beliefs.''

(Irish Times)

''Is dráma storrúil, bríomhar é Go dTaga do Ríocht ina bhfuil an dáiríreacht, an greann agus scoth na haisteoireachta ar fáil i léiriú na Taibhdheirce de....Scéal tragóideach, mearbhallach agus greannmhar.''

(Lá)

''Dráma an-mhaith. Tá an aisteoireacht an-láidir''

(RTÉ-Raidió na Gaeltachta)

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Beidh dráma nua le Micheál Ó Conghaile, Go dTaga do Ríocht, á léiriú ag Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe in Amharclann Smock Alley i mBarra an Teampaill, BÁC ón  Déardaoin 2ú Deireadh Fomhair go dtí 4ú Deireadh Fomhair 2008.

Teacht in inmhe Jimí, mac le Patrickín, atá mar mhír lárnach an scéil seo. Is Finné Iáivé é Patrickín agus tá a shaol tugtha go huile agus go hiomlán do scaipeadh an tsoiscéil. Cuireann creideamh a athar olc ar Jimí, áfach, ach tá faoiseamh éigin i ndán dó nuair a thosaíonn sé ag obair mar chúntóir ar chúrsa samhraidh Gaeilge. Is ansin a chastar Keith air, fear óg as Baile Átha Cliath a bhfuil suaimhneas intinne agus anama aimsithe aige i gConamara agus é faoi dhraíocht ag an gcultúr agus ag amhráin sean-nóis Johnny Bháin, uncail le Patrickín. Tá Kate, máthair Phatrickín, tagtha abhaile ar cuairt agus rún aici síocháin a dhéanamh idir í féin agus a mac, ach ní furasta ualach na croise atá á hiompar acu beirt le blianta fada a chur díobh. Lámh láidir an chreidimh atá lárnach sa bhriseadh croí seo uilig, agus ní hí an ghlúin seo amháin atá thíos leis. Agus Jimí ag teacht ar thuiscint níos fearr air féin agus ar na tionchair éagsúla a mhúnlaigh a shaol, tuigtear don lucht féachana an chumhacht mhillteach atá ag an gcreideamh, ar féidir leis an grá, an muintearas agus a thoil a cheilt ar dhuine.

Deir Micheál féin faoin dráma: "Dráma faoi chreideamh é seo, nó faoi chreideamh den chuid is mó. Ach ní dráma faoi aon chreideamh amháin faoi leith é, áfach, ach dráma faoi gach creideamh, is cuma cé a chum nó a cheap cibé creideamh a bhíonn i gceist. Óir, mar a deir carachtar amháin sa dráma, 'an bhfuil creideamh éicint ann nach bhfuil an chumadóireacht ina horlaí tríd?'. Feictear mar a chuaigh an creideamh i bhfeidhm ar an duine sa stair agus mar a théann sa lá atá inniu ann, ar ghreim cúil an chreidimh, ar laincisí, croimeasc is adhastar an chreidimh, ar shólás is ar dhólás an chreidimh, ar pháis, ar phian is ar shlánú an chreidimh."

Is é seo an tríú dráma de thriológ ó Mhicheál Ó Conghaile; ba iad Cúigear Chonamara agus Jude an dá dhráma eile. Cliar den chéad scoth atá curtha le chéile ag an stiúrthóir, Brendan Murray, don dráma - Seán Ó Coistealbha, Pádraic Ó Tuairisg, Peadar Ó Treasaigh, Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir agus Shaun Dunne.

Beidh Go dTaga do Ríocht á léiriú in Amharclann Smock Alley, Exchange St. Lower, Barra an Teampaill, B.Á.C ó Déardaoin 2ú Deireadh Fomhair go Dé Sathairn 4ú Deireadh Fomhair ag 8.00 i.n. Beidh matinee ar an Déardaoin agus Aoine ag 2.00 i.n. Is féidir ticéid a chur in áirithe agus tuilleadh eolais a fháil ach glaoch ar Áine Ní Chuaig i dTaibhdhearc na Gaillimhe (091) 562024.

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The play centres on the coming of age of Jimí and on his relationship with his father, Patrickín, a devoted Jehovah's Witness whose lifework is spreading the faith. Jimí, however, does not share his father's religious convictions and this causes great tension at home. He gets some respite from these difficult circumstances when he goes to work in a local Irish college for the summer and meets Keith, a young Dubliner who is captivated by the language and culture of Connemara and who feels he has found a spiritual home there. Meanwhile, Kate, Patrickín's mother, has returned home to make peace with her son but it appears that it may prove extremely difficult to heal the hurt of many years. Deceit and heartbreak are the order of the day in this family that has been tyrannised by religion, and as Jimí comes to understand the forces that have shaped his life and to accept himself as he is, the audience is led to appreciate the destructive power that religion can have.

This is the third play in a trilogy by Micheál Ó Conghaile, which also includes Cúigear Chonamara and Jude. Seán Ó Coistealbha, Pádraic Ó Tuairisg, Peadar Ó Treasaigh, Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir and Shaun Dunne make up the excellent cast that director Brendan Murray has assembled for this production which will be staged in Smock Alley Theatre, Exchange St. Lower, Temple Bar, Dublin from Thursday 2th to Saturday 4th October 2008 at 8.00 p.m. Matinees will take place on Thursday and Friday afternoon at 2pm.

For more information or to book tickets, call Áine Ní Chuaig at Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe: (091) 562024.