Reviving a tradition
Mary Ellen Callaghan delighted to see the return of the St. Patrick’s Day play at the Benevolent Irish Society
When Mary Ellen Callaghan was a child growing up on Prince Edward Island, the annual St. Patrick’s Day play was a great big deal.
“It was fun,” she says. Everyone she knew was either performing in it, going to it or looking forward to the homemade fudge that would be sold at intermission.
“It was something we all looked forward to in March because it was the end of winter. I remember sitting in my seat laughing,” says Callaghan, who is the vice-president of the Benevolent Irish Society (BIS).
Her cousin, the late Pius Callaghan, directed the production for many years.
“He loved it. I have the play books from 1948 to 1977, and his name was always on the cover,” says Callaghan, of the former managing editor of The Guardian.
The curtain came down on this annual event when it was cancelled in the 1980s.
“The only reason we stopped doing it was because membership of the BIS was decreasing at the time.
“And we didn’t have the necessary volunteers.”
But in 2019, the situation has changed with more people signing up to celebrate their Irish ancestry.
“Today the membership is 155 and growing.
“And we’re starting to attract a younger crowd, which is wonderful.”
So, a year ago, while reminiscing about the fun everyone had, Callaghan thought, ‘why don’t we start up the play again?’
“At the time we were looking for more ways to expand the programming at the BIS,” says Callaghan, whose committee work has helped to revive the variety shows from her childhood and continue the summer ceilidh series.
So, she started taking steps to revive the play.
With the blessing of the social ceilidh committee, the BIS executive and help from Prince Edward Islanders, she moved towards her dream. BIS member Michael O’Grady put her in touch with A.C.T. (A Community Theatre).
“So, I contacted Keir Malone and, after a discussion, we decided it was a good fit for both of us. We were keen, so we just made it happen.”
Keir’s father, Ray Malone, agreed to be the producer. And after securing Paul Whelan as a director, they found an appropriate play and put out a call for actors.
Theatre lovers will get to see the results of their work when the curtain rises on “Wake in the West” next week.
Presented by the BIS and A.C.T. (A Community Theatre), Michael J. Ginnelly’s three-act comedy/drama runs March 7-9 and March 12-14 at the Katherine Hughes Memorial Hall, 582 North River Rd.
People who come to the play will discover it’s the perfect anecdote for a long, cold winter, says the director.
“It’s an entertaining piece, with lots of local people. Some of this stuff is just off the wall,” says Whelan.
Set in County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland, the plot revolves around Tom Healy, a local man who has died, and in the Irish tradition he is being waked in his house by the sea.
He had put into his will some unusual funeral instructions, which the local doctor passes on to the dead man’s children.
However, his final wishes do not sit well at all with the local priest, his daughter, Mary, and his son, Martin, who has just returned from America for the funeral.
The story takes on some hilarious twists when Tom’s elderly neighbour, Rose, comes calling to pay her respects.
“It’s a slice of Irish life in the 1970s and ’80s.
“It has the church, a crofter in the west coast of Ireland, a son coming back from away and a romance that follows.
“It also has what happens when an Irish man dies, what goes on in the house when the people start to come.”
Callaghan is “really excited” to greet the people when they come through the door on opening night.
“I hope it’s the first of many more to come.”