Maelíosa Stafford did not really have a chance, he was destined for a life in theatre, drama was in his blood, acting in his DNA. His first time on stage was in a Taibhdhearc production his mother was acting in … he was still in his mother’s womb. Both of his parents, Seán and Máire, had made an enormous contribution to the arts scene in Galway and especially to theatre in the west, in various guises as actors, directors, translators of plays into Irish, writers of pantomimes, costume designers, librettists, and drama teachers.
There was many a time Maelíosa had to be minded in the green room while his parents were on stage in An Taibhdhearc. His mother and father used to organise a theatre school for children in the Áras in Dominick Street where they taught elocution and stagecraft. They would rehearse and perform little sketches and plays there and occasionally in feiseanna and always as Gaeilge. Our first photograph shows Maelíosa, complete with moustache and turban, in one of those productions, aged about four.
He went to Scoil Fhursa and from there to the Jes, both of which schools educated him and cultivated a love of the Irish language in him. He made life-long friends and almost every time these schoolmates went to visit his house, they were made to act out little plays. He was full of mischief at school and as one of his teachers said, “He was a laugh-a-minute and because of that, he was very hard to teach, you had to be on your toes all the time with him.” He took up Irish dancing to a high standard and featured in many feiseanna, often competing against his Druid colleague-to-be, Ray McBride. When he played in goal in football, he did not just stop the ball, it always had to be a dramatic spectacular diving save. He played rugby for the school, as you can see from our team photograph dated 1973 courtesy of Ollie Daniels. The team is, back row: Gerald Daniels, Declan Mannion, Tony Freeney, Colm Rogan, Liam Joyce, Joe O’Neill, Pádraic Storan, Donal Hynes. In front are Fergal Rooney, Aidan Greaney, Colin Colbert, John Murphy, Enda O’Coineen, Maelíosa Stafford and Rory O’Donnellan.
Maelíosa took part in school plays. He produced and acted in one titled “Feis Frenzy” which he had co-written with his mother and which featured fellow pupils togged out in tutus and big army boots belly-dancing on stage. He became a Manchester United fan.
He went to UCG to study commerce and appeared a few times on stage with An Cumann Drámaíochta, and while in college he acted in several productions in An Taibhdhearc. When Druid Theatre Company formed, it was only natural for him to join this fledgling group, so he left college and became a full-tme Druid. When they took over a derelict warehouse in Courthouse Lane from McDonoghs, they had to totally renovate the place. They all got to work as labourers, block-builders, plasterers, painters, etc, to make the place habitable. Maelíosa did all the wiring work under the supervision of an electrical engineer. Garry Hynes and Seán McGinley designed the theatre, Marie Mullen and Paul O’Neill did the painting and Padraic Breathnach, Tom Roche, Donal Hynes and Caoimhín Ó Maicín did the heavy shifting and while they were converting a warehouse into a theatre, they were also rehearsing “A Threepenny Opera”. The lane has never been the same since.
His innate talent for performing, his charismatic presence on stage featured memorably in countless Druid shows. Everyone will have a favourite part they saw him play. He actually took over as Druid’s artistic director from 1991-1994 and brought some outstanding productions to the stage including Vincent Woods’ At The Black Pig’s Dyke and a musical version of Brian Merriman’s The Midnight Court composed by Seán Tyrrell.
Druid often toured productions both here and abroad and on one of those trips to Australia, Maelíosa met his wife Carolyn and eventually decided to settle there. He worked with the Sydney Theatre Company, the Queensland Theatre Company and was a co-founder of O’Punksky’s Theatre Company. In addition to his stage work, he featured regularly in Australian films and TV. But he never forgot home and returned many times to Galway to feature in Druid productions and on one occasion, to direct a major show celebrating 90 years of An Taibhdhearc.
Maelíósa was a born entertainer who had a soft western lilt to his voice and a Galway accent. He never had a bad word to say about anyone and if he did, he kept it to himself. Our sympathy goes to his family and friends. He has left a huge vacuum in Galway and in theatre circles.
Rest easy oul shtock.
