FISHAMBLE TO STAGE NEW PLAY BY WEXFORD WRITER ALISON

A NEW play by Wexford writer Alison Martin has been selected by Fishamble, the New Play Company, for production.

Inspired by the medical card protests of 2008, The Grey Army follows a fictional ‘ordinary’ married couple Fred and Maisie Mulhern to Leinster House on what turns out to be the most extraordinary day of their lives.

Alison said: ‘Maisie has recently been asked to leave the Active Retirement Association for her extremist views while Fred is more of a reluctant activist but they both want the same result. They want to reclaim their identities.’

The play was written following a call from Fishamble and The Source Arts Centre for scripts on rebellion.

Alison said: ‘Given the year that’s in it, there has been a lot of retrospectives on the Rising so I wanted to explore what has been the biggest show of people power in my lifetime, also in an Irish context, which was October 2008.’

Although it deals with serious issues, The Grey Army, which Martin describes as a play about ‘ love and rebellion’, is a comedy at heart.

Directed by Katherine Fielder, it will be performed by Mary Condron as Maisie, Kevin Walshe as Fred and Holly Treacy.

The show is the culmination of a mentorship project at The Source with Gavin Kostick, literary manager of Fishamble.

The Grey Army is part of a double-bill by Sound Out Theatre this Friday, December 2 at 8pm The Source Theatre, Thurles, with Katie Chapple’s Hide and Seek. Tickets are €10. See thesourceartscentre.ie for booking details or call 0504 90204.