Glen Theatre swings back into action
THE Glen Theatre Dram Group will swing back into action this weekend with the launch of their spring season at the intimate Banteer venue.
Once again the group has turned to the creative genius of playwright Ray Cooney for the latest production, bringing their own inimitable style and panache to his classic comedy ‘It Runs in the Family’.
Featuring a top class ensemble of local Thespians the play is typical Ray Cooney fare, with the plot rapidly spinning out of control and unfolding into a hilarious evening of theatrical farce.
Set in a hospital, the play sees Dr Mortimer (played by Tim Stewart) trying to fight off a paternity suit so that he may, at last, deliver the Ponsonby Lecture at a prestigious international conference.
Add to the mix his wife Rosemary (Noreen O’Connell), former mistress June (Cathy Bailey) punkish newfound son Lesley (Nickey McAuliffe) and the stage is set for night of pure comedy gold.
If you are preparing to deliver ‘ The Lecture of the Year’ to a hundred of the worlds leading physicians’, the last thing that you want is a distraught mistress from two-decades ago turning up.
While he can just about cope with that, Dr Mortimer is gob-smacked when Jane tells him that his strapping 16-year old son is waiting outside to meet him leaving the hapless doctor with just one course of action – send for his faithful friend Dr Bonney ((Jimmy Noonan.)
Packed with the kind of oddball character we have come to expect from one of Ray Cooney’s plays, including the mischievous Dr Mike Connolly (Martin O’Riordan), his suspicious uncle (Seamus O’Keeffe) and dithery old hospital patients Bill (Frank Twomey), the play barrels along at breakneck pace leading to an unforgettable and predictably outrageous conclusion.
Directed by Tadgh O’Keeffe, the play will run at the Glen Theatre on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night, with an additional performance the following Sunday.
Tickets for the performances, which will start at 8.30pm, from the venue on 029 56239.
The play will then go on the road for performances at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre (May 3) and The Market Place in Armagh (May 5) before return back to Cork for a show at the Everyman Palace Theatre on Saturday, June 2.