DON’T PANIC! The above headline is not a warning to motorists that parking near the Town Hall has become particularly hazardous.
Clamped is the title of a new comedy-drama running at the Town Hall studio from fledgeling local company Poor Mouth Productions. There is a car-parking connection, though, as two of the play’s three characters, Stan and Keith, are employed as car-clampers.
The play is principally concerned with the marital travails of Stan and his wife Delia. After 10 years together, their marriage has gone somewhat stale. Youthful dreams of careers in music have long evaporated, making way for the humdrum routine of Keith’s nine-to-five job, while Delia has had to settle for being a housewife and mother to their teenage son rather than the singer she once aspired to be.
The strains and frustrations of their situation are suddenly brought into new focus when Keith is offered the chance of a promotion to an office job in another part of the country while Delia finds that she is pregnant again. The two are thus compelled to confront their problems and decide whether they can go on together or not.
Clamped is written by Stephen Reilly, a Mayo native who recently graduated from NUI Galway’s MA in Drama and Theatre Studies programme – which has proved a fertile breeding ground for bright new theatrical talents over the past number of years.
The play was initially produced as a 20 minute piece for the Muscailt festival in February where it won the adjudicators’ discretionary award. Reilly then expanded the play to approximately 50 minutes and this summer it toured Inis Mór where it ran for five days.
“I first got into writing for the stage when I did a play-writing seminar at NUIG a few years ago,” Reilly reveals over an afternoon coffee. “I really enjoyed it and have continued to work at it ever since. Myself and fellow MA graduate Declan O’Loughlin formed Poor Mouth after leaving NUIG so we could continue working in theatre and pursuing our creative urges.
“I would describe Clamped as a drama but with a comic slant - the comedy is particularly emphasised in the character of Keith who sees his job as a car-clamper in heroic terms, he envisages himself stalking and preying upon all these illegal parkers!”
Reilly also directs Clamped and the cast features Declan O’Loughlin as Stan, Jacqueline Dooley as Delia and Will Flanagan as Keith. Looking ahead, Poor Mouth are also scheduled to feature in the second Galway Theatre Festival next month and are hopeful of having another play ready around Christmas.
In the meantime, Galway audiences can park themselves at the Town Hall and - for once - enjoy the experience of getting Clamped.
Clamped runs at the Town Hall Studio on Friday September 18 and Saturday 19 at 8.30pm. Tickets are available on 091 - 569777.
