This Friday night the town hall theatre in Claremorris hosts one of the most successful plays to hit the stage in Mayo over the past decade as The Banshee of Crokey Hill – written and produced by Midwest Radio presenter Tommy Marren – has its final public performance after a 13-month tour that has seen the production play in Ireland, England and the United States.
Over 25 packed-out shows have taken place since the play was first staged in Castlebar last July as part of Midwest Radio’s charity challenge and demand for further performances meant that the show has been constantly on the road since. To date the play has raised over €75,000 for various charities in Connacht and further afield and as the “banshee” prepares to wind-down Tommy Marren has been reflecting on what has been a huge success. “I never thought that we’d have been on the road so long with this but to be honest it was a joy to play to so many wonderful audiences and the positive reaction we got made it all worthwhile. We kept together a cast of 20 for over 13 months and there wasn’t a cross word between us.” As well as playing in Mayo and Sligo the show also toured Irish theatres in Manchester and Birmingham but it was the trip to Chicago that holds the fondest memories for the local radio broadcaster.
“Performing the play in Chicago was pure magic. We were sceptical enough going out there because we wondered would the Irish community come out and support us but we had no need to worry. The theatre had a seating capacity for 650 people and we were sold out for all three shows. It will go down as one of the best weeks in my life and the fact that it brought so many people back to their early years in Ireland was very special”.
The Banshee of Crokey Hill is set in the west of Ireland in the early 1970s and tells the story of the return home of Mikey McMahon (Tommy Marren ) to Crokey to tell his parents Jack McMahon (John Duggan ) and Kathleen (Eileen Slevin ) that he’s about to marry in Manchester. However, a dark secret kept from Mikey emerges as the nosy gossip Molly Andy (Mary Mannion ) tells Mikey that the banshee is about to put a spell on the entire McMahon household.
The play features ample comedy, traditional music and song as local neighbours arrive to welcome Mikey home, and an absolutely unexpected ending. Reaction to the production has been extremely positive and readers who haven’t seen the show should make a special effort to head to the town hall theatre, Claremorris this Friday night August 8 at 8.30 pm for what will be the final performance. Tickets are on sale at McEllin Travel Agents, Claremorris or at the door on the night. Proceeds are to the local branch of the Red Cross.
