PUBLIC WELL UP FOR FIT-UP FEST

Mr. Fit-Up, Geoff Gould, experienced plenty of lows during the pandemic. While some shows did go ahead, it was difficult to ‘get people out’. The good news for Geoff and his Blood In The Alley gang, is that patrons are once again ‘out’ and have lost no time returning to venues up and down the country.

The Avondhu catchment featured prominently in his first ‘full’ post Covid festival with Mitchelstown, Fermoy, Bartlemy and Ballynoe all to the fore. According to Geoff, the effective lifting of restrictions has transformed the performing arts.

“Performers need audiences, they feed on this kind of interaction and we had some wonderful shows last week. We were welcomed whereever we went and for the first time in a long time, they felt like ‘real’ shows,” he said.

It’s hard to argue with this assessment. Bartlemy, not known as a theatrical hot spot, did a great job hosting Seamus O’Rourke and ‘Victor’s Dung’. Ballynoe and the Palace Theatre in Fermoy replicated this. Bill, Andrew and their team were on hand to welcome Vladimir Joblokov to St. George’s Arts & Heritage Centre last Monday night for a ‘St. Valentine’s special’ in Mitchelstown. Vladimir served up plenty of classics with a mixture of anecdotes and personal reflections, complementing a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Shows continue until 20th February, check out www.fit-uptheatrefestival.com for further details.

(Pic: John Ahern) BELOW: Supporters of the performing arts, who were in Bartlemy Hall last Friday night, l-r: Catherine Howard, Betty Cahill, Johann Scollard and Martina Somers.

(Pic: John Ahern) RIGHT: Local community activists who were in Bartlemy Hall last Friday night for a performance of ‘Victor’s Dung’, l-r: Mary Arnold, Nora O’Donovan and David Healy.