It's all Duncan Stewart's fault. There I was flicking through the channels a few weeks ago when I ended up watching Duncan, complete with safety helmet, enthusing about the benefits of home insulation.
There are plenty of ads on radio and newspapers about the benefits of extra insulation, but it was Duncan who spurred me into action, as the Duncan Stewart Effect (DSE ) took hold.
I got a survey done on the house and the job was booked in for the following Monday. There was just one small task to be done before they got to work: the attic had to be cleared. That shouldn't take too long, I thought, there are just a few suitcases, Christmas decorations and other bits and pieces up there.
Two days later we were still sorting out the attic contents and trying to decide what to keep and what to throw away.
Some of the stuff up there was a complete puzzle. Where did that huge roll of carpet come from and how did it get up there? I eventually had to get a saw and cut it in half before I could manoeuvre it through the trap door. Presumably it was stored there by the previous cat loving owners who moved to the USA. They left us with a severe flea problem from the cats they kept at the time, but never mentioned the gift of a roll of used carpet.
Most of the other stuff was accumulated by ourselves over the past 12 years or so. Old toys, books, school and college notes, boxes of cassette tapes, video players that had made way for DVD machines and lots of pictures and newspaper cuttings from shows that had taken place in Cleeres over the years.
I ended up with three main categories: stuff to be dumped/recycled, a few boxes to go to the charity shops and the rest to go back up to the newly insulated attic until the next Duncan Stewart inspired refurbishment.
Reeling in the years
The newspaper clippings relating to the setting up of Cleere's Theatre brought back some fond memories and sitting back to read through them was probably what made the job take so long.
Gerry Moran corrected me once when I said that The Poor Mouth by Myles Na gCopaleen was the first show held at Cleeres and he's right. I even found the original ad . For the record the line-up for the first show was: “MARK McGRATH plays Electric Jazz/Brazilian/Flamenco and GERRY MORAN reads poetry.” The date: Sunday August 19, 1990.
Next up were The Kilkenny Barbershop Choir on Tuesday August 21st and then The Poor Mouth took over for the rest of Kilkenny Arts Week 1991.
This was the first play to get a newspaper review, with the Kilkenny People running the headline: “Laughter galore as new Theatre opens.”
They commented that “Many of Wednesday night's patrons seemed to enjoy the show, although some felt it was over-the-top and 'pantomimish.' However, it was a very professional, polished performance. At times with people stretching their necks and half-standing, it was like a scene from the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland Day.”
Where are they now?
Another early event reported on was a heat of a competition called 'Search for Young Irish Comedy Show.”
There were no local contestants as the report says that the two local entrants got cold feet and withdrew on the night. I wonder who they were? Contestants that did take the stage included a Tipperary woman called Anne O'Brien, a duo from Kildare called 'The Not So Funny Guys' and the one and only Richie Kavanagh. The heat was won by a Wexford man called Joe Byrne with a score of 128 points. This wasn't enough to get him to the final on The Late Late Show, with a score of 160 or more required to win an audience with his royal highness, Gay Byrne. All good innocent fun back in 1991, but with the exception of Richie Kavanagh, where are they now?
It’s my shout
Of the hundreds of events over the years the show advertised for Friday 19 and Saturday 20 April 1991 is one that sticks out in the memory.
The ad runs: “Jon Kenny and Pat Shortt in 'It's My Shout' Tickets £4.”
That Friday night fewer than a dozen people turned up for what was to be their first appearance in Kilkenny. Anyone of the thousands who saw their shows as D'Unbelievables over the following years would know that it would never work with almost as many people on stage as in audience, so the small group just retired to the bar for a pint and a chat with Jon and Pat.
The following night the show was packed and that was the beginning of a long relationship between the two and Cleeres. Both went on to bigger and better things, but I still think those early shows were among the best they have done. Those were the days my friends. Sure nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
