Some of Hollywood’s most enduring icons of days gone by will tread the boards in Castlecomer this weekend, as local author Neville Thompson’s play ‘Of All the Bars’ debuts.
Bringing together names like Bogart, Sinatra, Monroe and Martin, this innovative production pitches the so-called ‘Rat Pack’ generation together in a fictional bar owned by the group’s elder statesman, Humphrey Bogart.
Director Thompson revealed the idea for the play came from Gottfried Helnwein’s symbolic reimagining of Edward Hooper’s well-known ‘Nighthawks’ painting. In ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ Helnwein recreated the famous diner scene using icons of the era, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.
Inspired by the idea of these iconic stars in ordinary situations, Thompson settled on the idea for ‘Of All The Bars’.
“I just thought ‘what would it be like if Humphrey Bogart owned a bar’,” he said.
“Last year we did a show, ‘In The Blood’, for the miners in Castlecomer and Mark Rothwell (co-writer ) suggested doing a play about the Rat Pack.
“I felt they had been lambasted in recent productions with people just coming on stage and singing and I wanted to put a storyline to it that people could follow.
“I did quite a lot of the writing and as it went along there were people adding in their tuppence and it has come together quite nicely.
“They had a different sense of humour back then to now. All my work previously has dealt with contemporary Ireland so it is great to work on something different where the characters aren’t even allowed to swear. My mother will be pleased!
“There’s a lot of singing and a little bit of dancing, which I’m not too happy about because I’m not a choreographer,” he joked.
“The last time I thought I could dance was watching Saturday Night Fever, but the actors are doing great.”
The cast includes Michael ‘Midgy’ Dowd (Humphrey Bogart ), Neville Thompson (Elvis ), Michelle Burke (Marilyn Monroe ), Colm Meagher (Frank Sinatra ), Mark Rothwell (Dean Martin ), Ger ‘Chubby’ Brennan (Groucho Marx ), Michael ‘Mousey’ Brennan (Jerry Lewis ), Barry Byrne (Bing Crosby ), Ann Moylan (piano-player Sam ) and Mary Clarke (Jane Russell ).
Portraying such icons brings its own unique challenges, according to Thompson.
“To play someone like Frank Sinatra is a huge role for anybody. We gave all the actors DVDs of their characters to help them. These are hugely iconic figures. Ususally as an actor you can bring what you want to a character but with these icons people already have a perception of what they look and act like.”
Nonetheless he feels the cast have risen to the challenge and in recent weeks the production has really come together.
‘Of All The Bars’ will debut at the Castlecomer Discovery Park this Saturday evening at 8.30pm with proceeds going to the Coalminers Association of Ireland. This will be followed by a performance in the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny on June 12.
