PLAYWRIGHT AND novelist Mick Donnellan is not a man to rest on his laurels. Having enjoyed popular and critical acclaim for Gun Metal Grey, Sunday Morning Coming Down, and Shortcut To Hallelujah, he continues to press forward.
Donnellan’s new play, Radio Luxembourg is a black comedy centring around two Irish criminals involved in a tiger kidnapping that goes terribly wrong. It will be premiered next week in the Galway Fringe Festival.
Paddy and Joe arrive at a local bank manager’s house to tie up the man’s daughter with the intent of using her as ransom. At first things seem to be going according to plan but soon cracks appear and events unfold with much bizarreness and hilarity.
Joe’s past comes back to haunt him while Paddy’s future hangs in the balance. But can he prove himself worthy of the criminal life? Meanwhile the kidnap victim, Samantha, presents a whole new set of problems that her captors could never have foreseen.
Everything combines to create a feast of comedy and drama with an explosive ending, leaving a lasting and wild impression, synonymous with Truman Town Theatre Company’s work.
“It started off when I wrote a 15-minute draft for the Claremorris Fringe Festival last year,” Mick Donnellan tells me about the play. “I had also been thinking about cases like Patti Hearst so it gradually evolved from there to its current form. We’ve had great support from the Town Hall over the past few weeks as they have let us have rehearsal space so we are very grateful for that.”
The cast is Neil Molloy (Republic of Telly ) as Joe; Callaghan O’Connell as Paddy, and Nina Uesser as Samantha.
Radio Luxembourg runs at the Columban Hall, Sea Road from this Sunday to Thursday July 17 at 8pm. For more information see galwayfringe.ie
