A young Kilkenny man is enjoying a high point of his acting career as he takes to the stage with the Abbey Theatre in a play penned by Kilkennyman Thomas Kilroy.
Seamus Brennan from the Yellow Road in Castlecomer secured a role in the Abbey Theatre production of Christ Deliver Us which deals with the horrors of clerical abuse in 1950s Ireland.
Seamus Brennan began his acting career after a stint working in bars and hotels in Kilkenny and Dublin.
“It was something I wanted to do and so I applied to several colleges in Dublin and accepted a place in Inchicore College. I did my training and gained a theatre and drama diploma. Following that I earned a diploma in speech and drama from Trinity College in London. I then went on to New York to do further training in film acting. To date I have worked in various roles in theatre companies such as Nighthawks, The Project and the New Theatre. I take work wherever I get it.”
Seamus is very excited to be working with the prestigious Abbey Theatre. He plays the part of Link who is a young 16-year old boy who is boarding at a school in Kilkenny. In a recent radio interview Thomas Kilroy who originally hails from Callan, said that the story was loosely based on his own childhood and his schooling as a boarder in St Kieran’s College. He said that he experienced a great deal of clerical physical abuse, which he claimed, ‘licensed the beating of children - it was condoned and accepted.’
Christ Deliver Us is a play that catches the innocence and simplicity of children growing up. There are light moments and very dark scenes. There is a huge cast of 25 people involved in the production and Seamus is enjoying the camaraderie.
“The cast are a great bunch of people - they are so full of energy and they are wonderful actors. I am just so glad to be involved in the Abbey at this stage of my career. Thomas Kilroy is a great writer and both of us are from Kilkenny so we had that link. The play is set in Kilkenny too so I am the only one who doesn’t have to change my accent! Thomas sat in on the early rehearsals which was great as we were able to ask him about our characters and get his thinking behind the writing.”
With a Kilkenny setting, playwright and actor involved there would of course have to be hurling involved in some way or other and Seamus was delighted to hear that there would be a hurling game to be played on stage as part of the performance.
“It is amazing to play a proper game of hurling on stage. But it is hugely choreographed. We had two weeks of four-hour rehearsals just for hurling training for stage initially! I was the only one who had played before. It is a great scene though and it is very real.
However, for Seamus, acting with the Abbey is better than any hurling game.
“Every night I step onto the stage in the Abbey for me, is like stepping onto the pitch in Croke Park in September for the Kilkenny lads,” he laughs! “It’s a dream come true - my first professional gig in the Abbey!”
Seamus is under no illusions about life as an actor and he doesn’t expect to have his name on a billboard just yet. However, he is realistic in so far as he hopes that he can continue to work as a actor and make a living like any other person in any other job.
“I have an agent now finally so it is a little easier to get auditions, and although sometimes these can be tough going and you really have to harden yourself to rejection, you just have to keep auditioning and keep working. It is a case of staying positive. Acting is not a job for someone who cannot handle rejection,” he points out.
Having auditioned for Christ Deliver Us in November, Seamus was surprised and ecstatic to get the call from his agent to tell him he had secured a role.
“It was a good Christmas - put it that way. I was thrilled. My parents are immensely proud too. They are coming up to see the play in the next couple of weeks and I am looking forward to that.”
And so what next for the budding star?
“I honestly don’t know and that is normal for me - I just keep reading plays and going to auditions until I get my next gig. I’m always looking ahead and it’s all about the work. With work comes work and you just must stay grounded and focussed and hopefully it will keep coming,” he says optimistically.
And I’m sure it’s going to be all downhill from here for the 27-year old actor. Next stop Broadway!
Christ Deliver Us is running in the Abbey Theatre until March 13. Booking and information on www.abbeytheatre.ie and (01 ) 87 87 222.
