Maura’s new play set for Athenaeum stage
AN ORIGINAL play is set to make its debut on the Athenaeum stage on Friday, November 3 as local playwright Maura Flannery presents Achilles in Achill as part of the Wexford Festival Fringe.
The play, which runs for two nights, is based on a true event, related to Maura by her father who was a teacher in Achill in the 40s and 50s, which saw locals save the lives of a group of sailors on an ill-fated voyage.
‘My mother Puddy Flannery heard the ship’s siren and she and my father, with islanders, saved the sailors by using ropes to haul them up the side of the cliffs,’ Maura explained. ‘My father remembers how they used to go and play piano and violin for them in Alice Sweeney’s pub every day after school and the wit and fun they had with language difference is explored in the play.’
A musical in three parts, the play is very much an Irish- Greek marriage of music and wit. Poet and lecturer Michael De Lacey plays Achilles, the Greek captain, while Alice is played by Carmela Doyle from Ferns and the orphan girl on the run is played by Brianna Furlong McGrath. Meanwhile, Beren McCormack, currently studying film and animation in Dublin, plays the young officer.
All songs for the play were composed by Maura herself and she can’t wait to bring the piece to the eyes of the public on the Athenaeum stage.
Rehearsals have been in full swing and Maura wished to thank all the cast and crew for their hard work as they approach the two nights. Tickets for Friday and Saturday’s shows are priced at €12/€10 from the Athenaeum and Traditions Shop on Slaney Street, or by calling 0857723329.
There will be a complimentary wine reception before the show at 7.30 p.m. with curtains up at 8 p.m.