Big Maggie looks set for long run
All the indications following the first two performances of the Shoestring Theatre Company’s production of John B. Keane’s ‘Big Maggie’ are that the presentation is set for a long run at the Schoolyard Theatre Charleville.
Director Kevin O’Shea has assembled a magnificent cast led by the brilliantly imperious Eilish Casey in the lead role of Big Maggie. From the opening outdoor scene, Maggie stamps her authority on the play and rules the roost with an iron fist.
The other members of the cast compliment her performance making for an exhilarating night at the theatre.
The opening outdoor scene is reminiscent of the murder scene in ‘ The Field,’ only this time the setting is the cemetery, which has been created in the area behind the theatre.
The audience is the funeral party, and they are witness to all the ritual of the burial service for Walter Polpin led by the parish priest (Pat Herlihy), and the chief mourners, Maggie, sons Michael (T. J. Carr), Michael (Liam Houlihan), daughters Gert (Caroline O’Flynn) and Katie (Sarah Barrett). The other mourners are Angeline Bridgeman, Gerard Roche, Breda Lynch, Claire Normoyle, Tim Bowles and Liam Fitzgerald, while Mr. Byrne, the local monumental sculptor also makes his first appearance here. The commercial traveller Teddy Hellan (John English) is a late arrival at the funeral.
Set in the church controlled, repressive Ireland of the sixties, the play portrays Irish society and the state of femininity at that time, which is a far cry from the reformed country we know to-day, with same sex marriage and feminist liberation.
In keeping with the Shoestring policy of introducing new faces to the stage, Kevin O’Shea introduces Sarah Barrett, who excels in her first role as Katie, the rebellious daughter.
Sarah is a daughter of Dominic Dillon, who was a brilliant actor, also directed by Kevin, in the early days of the group which then went under the name of the Glenside Players. Dominic starred in ‘Mass Appeal’ by Bill C. Davis, when with the late Denis Brennan they won the All-Ireland Confined Drama Festival in Gorey in 1986.
Other first timers on the Charleville stage are T. J. Carr, who plays the son Michael, and John English, who plays Teddy Heelan, the commercial traveller and Pat Herlihy as the parish priest. The newcomers combine beautifully with seasoned campaigners, the inimitable Martin Hennessy as Byrne and Gerard Roche as the old man, with Breda Lynch, Caroline O’Flynn and Claire Normoyle.
The play Big Maggie is one of those on the Leaving Certificate course for 2019 and already schools across North Cork have indicated their interest in attending the play at the Schoolyard Theatre. It is all the more attractive for students when they learn that both the actors and the director will be available to conduct a question and answer session on their interpretation of the Kerry author’s work after each performance attended by Leaving Certificate classes.
Big Maggie is on at the Schoolyard Theatre in Charleville on the 20th; 21st, 25th and 26th October at 8.15pm. Other dates and extra performances will be staged through November, or as dictated by public demand. Booking is at 087-1804870.