FOR MORE than 20 years, agony aunt Frankie Byrne ruled supreme on Irish airwaves with her iconic radio show, The Women’s Page.
Now her life, both on air and off, where she had her fill of personal tragedies, has been brought to life in an acclaimed play from Five Lamps Theatre Company, Dear Frankie.
Written by Niamh Gleeson, this is a show that offers a beautiful pen picture of the changes in Irish society over the past 40 years. Following a hugely popular tour last autumn, it now returns to the Town Hall Theatre from Thursday April 21 to Saturday 23.
The play celebrates the eclectic life and times of Ireland’s first radio agony aunt. The various and authentic problems written to her and heard throughout the play offer a fascinating insight into the hang-ups, concerns, and sorrows of Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s.
The title role of Frankie is taken by actress Nuala Hayes in a performance that has been hailed, on RTÉ radio’s John Murray Show, for the way in which she “absolutely encapsulates Frankie...she’s just perfect...close your eyes and you think it’s Frankie up there.”
“I remember her voice,” Hayes says, as she recalls her own memories of Frankie Byrne. “It had a no-nonsense tenor and seemed to embody a certain attitude to life’s problems. I remember coming home for lunch and her show would be on the radio.
“She’d always play songs of Frank Sinatra and I used to be fascinated by the way that she could link the theme of the song to whatever problem she was discussing. Her show had a real entertainment value.”
Hayes reveals that Byrne’s voice was also her first introduction to Niamh Gleeson’s play. “They sent me a sound file of the voice before I ever saw a script,” she explains. “I listened to it over and over and thought ‘I’d love to give that a go’. Then when I saw the script I could see it was very committed to the truth of Frankie’s story. I knew it would be a very interesting project to be part of.”
How did Hayes approach the challenge of portraying Frankie?
“I’m not a mimic,” she notes. “I respond more to the rhythm of the text. I just listened and listened and listened to her voice to get the rhythm and that gets me half way there. I also lowered my own vocal register to get closer to her.”
Hayes reveals what especially impresses her about Frankie Byrne.
“Her professionalism. She had a high profile PR career, everyone knew her. It wasn’t until she was middle aged that she started doing The Women’s Page,” Hayes says, “and even though there were troubles in her own life that never penetrated into her work, that was amazing I think.”
The cast of Dear Frankie also features Donagh Deeney and Dorothy Cotter, and of course, like Frankie’s own radio programme, the score features a selection of Frank Sinatra numbers throughout.
There is hilarity in the show and moments of deep despair, and always there is empathy, as Frankie reaches out to everyone who comes her way and everyone who starts off their handwritten letter with the words; “Dear Frankie...”
Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 and www.tht.ie There is also a special ticket offer of €10 for seniors.
