Sean O’Casey’s masterpiece Juno and the Paycock will be brought to life at The Royal Castlebar from Monday 3 to Wednesday November 5. Set in the Dublin tenements during the Irish Civil War in 1922, Juno and the Paycock weaves between both tragic and comic elements. The Boyle family, deep in poverty, is made up of father, mother, son and daughter. Jack is a loafer, his wife, Juno, tries to keep things together, son Johnny is crippled from battle wounds in ‘the troubles’, while daughter Mary, is on strike.
Prominent themes touched upon throughout the play include poverty, religion, war and the conflict between the dream world and the world of reality. Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, commenting on Sean O'Casey's skill as a playwright, praised his "ability to go over the top to get to the bottom of the matter". If ever a play proved that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, or that the more things change the more they remain the same, it's Juno and the Paycock. An extremely strong cast has been assembled including Garrett Keogh as ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle, Joe Hanley as Joxer Daly and Irish Film and Television Awards Best Actress Nominee 2008, Bríd Ni Neachtain as Juno. Shows will be at 8 pm with a special schools’ matinee taking place on Tuesday 4 at 11.30 a.m. Tickets are priced at €20 or €12 for the matinee performance. Tickets can be booked through www.royal.ie, www.ticketmaster.ie, any ticketmaster outlet nation-wide or, for the price of a local call, the box office of The Royal Castlebar at 0818 300 000; this number is operational 24/7.
