Droichead Arts Centre has announced that their hugely successful THEATRE CLUB returns this Autumn after a closure of 11 months.
This season Droichead will have a programme of five unique, critically acclaimed live shows that will engage and entertain audiences, and also for the first time, Droichead presents New Drama, short readings/short works in progress.
Droichead Theatre Club brings people together to see a play, and then allows audiences the opportunity to chat and discuss it afterwards. Like a book club, audiences can share their views, thoughts and impressions informally with the cast and creatives. If this is your first or your 50th play, it doesn’t matter, come along, and be part of the drama at Droichead!
Collette Farrell, Director, Droichead Said “As part of our strategy, we need to enable artists to make and develop work of ambition and as such, we must be part of an ecology which nurtures art and artists. During the pandemic, when our doors were closed, the creativity continued, and we were able to support artists to continue to make new work, and we are delighted to share some of this work with you as part of our Theatre Club Season.”
Droichead Theatre Club series of five shows are great value too – Tickets for five shows, and five new dramas cost just €55. Theatre fans can book online via www.Droichead.com or call 041 9833946 to be part of the drama at Droichead. From 23 October, all shows will be on sale individually, with ticket prices from €18 – €16.
A WILDE FAN | by Myles Breen | Bottom Dog Theatre | SAT 2 OCT | 8PM
In this new solo performance well-known actor and playwright Myles Breen celebrates the poet, playwright and novelist – recounting the affect Oscar Wilde has had on his own work and life. Wilde was an artist whose unique imagination and ideas on life, love and art are as modern today as when they were first written, and whose rapid rise to fame and scandalous down fall is still an example of how a society can turn on those who do not conform; a man of his time, but also of all time. Featuring excerpts from Wilde’s writings alongside Breen’s trademark wit and performed with his usual flair, A Wilde Fan is a personal and theatrical take on one of history’s greatest artists, by his biggest fan.
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken!”
HEATHER | By Thomas Eccleshare | Directed by Liam Halligan | Pageant Wagon Theatre | THU 4 NOV | 8PM
A reclusive writer. A massive bestseller. A dark secret. What are you willing to forget? What are you willing to forgive?
A reclusive children’s writer becomes wildly successful. Her books are treasured across the country. But when a troubling narrative starts to unfold, we find ourselves asking: what matters more, the storyteller or the story?
‘A hot-button play… superb performances’ INDEPENDENT
‘The drama spins upon a gripping premise’ SUNDAY BUSINESS POST ★★★★
FIGHT NIGHT | by Gavin Kostick | Rise Productions | THU 11 NOV | 8pm
Aonghus Óg McAnally returns with his multi-award winning solo show Fight Night for a 10th anniversary nationwide tour. A gripping journey charting the comeback of Dan Coyle Jr, a failed amateur boxer. Living in the shadows of his overbearing father and his brother’s Olympic success, the birth of his own son reignites his competitive fire, and he takes the first tentative steps on his road to redemption. This fast-paced and engaging solo performance combines intense physicality with a classic Dublin wit in a storytelling experience that will leave audiences both exhausted and exhilarated.
“McAnally and Kostick deliver a knockout blow…Extraordinary… Stark, exhilarating, and cathartic” The Irish Times.
EDEN | by Eugene O’Brien | Decadent Theatre Company | THU 18 NOV | 8PM
Eden is the powerful story of an ordinary relationship on an extraordinary weekend. Billy and Breda are approaching their 10th wedding anniversary. Breda is determined that this will be the weekend that saves their marriage. But Billy is more concerned with Imelda, the beautiful young woman he has his eye on. From the writer of the hit RTEÌ drama Pure Mule, Eden is a story of stale love and fresh lust in the Irish midlands. Winner of Best New Play at both the Irish Times Theatre Awards and the Stewart Parker Awards in 2001. Starring Maeve Fitzgerald and Patrick Ryan.
THE STAR OF CHESTERS LANE | Quintessence Theatre Company | THU 2 DEC | 8PM
1854: Mr McGrath has fallen to his death working on the building of the Boyne Viaduct, leaving his wife, Catherine, alone to fend for herself. What’s a poor woman to do…? …Put on his clothes, of course, and take up his place in the world!
Quintessence Theatre use their dazzling physical ensemble theatre techniques to reimagine bustling 19th century Ireland and the remarkable true story of one of the country’s forgotten street characters, Kate the Navvy: the Molly Malone of Louth. Originally commissioned by the 2018 Drogheda Arts Festival 2018, The Star of Chester’s Lane is an original comedy that breathes bawdy new life into Irish history and uproariously celebrates the great tradition of the storyteller.
“Bawdy, irreverent, tragic, energetic … a local story that could be told anywhere … I can see Kate the Navvy will be our Molly Malone” Alison Comyn, Drogheda Independent (& Sky News).
Droichead presents NEW DRAMA.
LOUTH MOUTH | by Juliette Crosbie | THU 14 OCT 8PM
Working with director Bryan Burroughs, Juliette Crosbie brings us the story of Holly, a jazz singer, who on the eve of her mother’s funeral must return to her abandoned home in Hackballscross, Louth after more than a decade on the run.
THE MIDNIGHT SCALPING OF KATE CARROLL | Quintessence Theatre | THU 28 OCT 8PM
23 of April, 1921. Midnight. 3 men, masked and heavily armed, break down the door of Mr John Carroll. But they’re not there for him…They’ve come for his sister. Kate Carroll: the fraterniser, the alleged ‘horizontal collaborator’ of the Crowned Forces, about to be dragged from her bed, and scalped at the head by her own people for charges never brought, and a crime never proven…
BOX BABY | by Rex Ryan | Glassmask Theatre | THU 25 NOV 8PM
A couple decide the fate of an unborn child entering a world where gene editing is the new normal.
LEGACY | by Aoibheann McCann & Karis Hasall | FRI 26 NOV 8PM
A one-woman, multi-character show celebrating the Irish phenomenon of the Childless Aunt; the second mother. Is she a failure? A triumph? Have we categorised these women? Should we? Why are we even asking?
THE SHED | by Clare Monnelly | FRI 3 DEC 8PM
From the writer of Charlie’s a Clepto. The Shed is a safe space where Y2K teenagers – hooker boots, John Player Blue, Adidas tearaways – gather in the 00’s, and where the survivors come to terms with how their lives have turned out in the present.
The Shed was co-commissioned by Livin’ Dred Theatre Company and Pavilion Theatre Dun Laoghaire in 2019. Pavilion Theatre facilitated development in April 2019 engaging the writer Clare Monnelly, director and dramaturg Aaron Monaghan, with a creative team, and performers. In early 2020 Droichead facilitated additional development with Clare and Aaron, and in 2021 Droichead will support further development, culminating in a reading of the play on our stage.
THEATRE CLUB membership is bookable online or by phone. If Patron’s have any particular preferences or requirements around accessibility, please let Droichead Box Office know at the time of booking, or leaving a note in the comments section of your online booking.
Note on assigned seating: Every seat in Droichead’s Stockwell Street Theatre is a good seat. From the 2 October, in line with government guidelines, Droichead will be slowly easing restrictions and increasing our theatre capacity in a safe and considered way. To do this Droichead will still operate in pods of 1’s, 2’s, 3’s & 4’s, keeping at least two seats around your pod free.
Seating for the moment will be unallocated, and we will notify patrons of their seats in advance. In order to keep everyone safe we will require everyone to wear a mask at all times and we will also require proof of vaccine/recovery and ID. Please read Droichead’s Covid guidelines before arriving
