YOUNG GALWAY ensemble The Company Productions kick off the New Year in appropriate fashion at the Town Hall studio next week with a new play about the trials and tribulations of putting on a play.
Something always goes wrong when putting on a play - arguments, money, romance. You are lucky if it’s just one thing. So at times it’s good to remember you are playing at plays.
Written by Jack Kirwan and directed by Anthony Daley, Playing at Plays immerses the audience into the world of taking a play from script to first night.
Jack Kirwan, a young Galway writer, tells me about his idea to create a piece of art imitating life imitating art.
“I got the initial idea for the piece when last year our production crew decided to see how quickly they could do a play and managed to put on two short one acts in a week,” Kirwan reveals.
“A while later we were doing a short film and I noticed the interactions between the tech crew and all the other people involved. Usually these kind of scripts, plays-about-plays, focus on the actors and while they are important of course I wanted to depict the writer, producer, marketing people, director, lighting people, etcetera, and all their interactions. It’s a funny look at all that goes on in a production.”
The Company Productions was formed by Kirwan and producer Jack Kavanagh in August 2008. Since then they have worked on several short films and plays and they have also gathered a strong team of technicians, writers, and producers. Last year they presented the historical drama Troika at the Town Hall studio where it enjoyed a sell-out run.
Playing at Plays features a cast of eight, including Conor Hooper, Oisin Robbins, Emmett Byrne, Roisin Dolan, Clodagh Carey, David Burke, and Richard Seery.
Playing at Plays runs at the Town Hall Studio from Monday January 18 to Friday 22 at 8.30pm nightly. Tickets are €8/€6 and available through 091 - 569777.
