We are very excited to announce our 2025 Culture Night Event..
"An Evening of Vignettes," at the Castle.
📅 Date: Friday 19th September, 2025
"An Evening of Vignettes," at the Castle.
📅 Date: Friday 19th September, 2025
Two Performances
🕡1st Performance - Time: 6:00-7:30PM and 🕡2nd Performance - Time: 8:15-9:45PM
📍 Location: The Long Gallery, Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary E32 CX59
🎟️FREE EVENT
This Culture Night, we welcome you to step into the enchanting Long Gallery at Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir, for "An Evening of Vignettes," an exhilarating showcase of five innovative 10-15minute performances by local artists. This experimental event, produced by Linda Fahy, the Tudor Artisan Hub, in collaboration with local actor and director Enda O'Driscoll, promises to celebrate a wide array of artistic expressions, offering a glimpse into the vibrant cultural talent within our community.
New, emerging and established local playwrights, directors, actors, and writers from the Cultural Quarters of Carrick-on-Suir are coming together to present a series of mini-performances, a blend of 'works in development', theatrical abstracts, literary extracts, adaptations, all carefully crafted with a minimalist 'black box' theatre style approach to captivate and inspire audiences.
🕡1st Performance - Time: 6:00-7:30PM and 🕡2nd Performance - Time: 8:15-9:45PM
📍 Location: The Long Gallery, Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary E32 CX59
🎟️FREE EVENT
This Culture Night, we welcome you to step into the enchanting Long Gallery at Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir, for "An Evening of Vignettes," an exhilarating showcase of five innovative 10-15minute performances by local artists. This experimental event, produced by Linda Fahy, the Tudor Artisan Hub, in collaboration with local actor and director Enda O'Driscoll, promises to celebrate a wide array of artistic expressions, offering a glimpse into the vibrant cultural talent within our community.
New, emerging and established local playwrights, directors, actors, and writers from the Cultural Quarters of Carrick-on-Suir are coming together to present a series of mini-performances, a blend of 'works in development', theatrical abstracts, literary extracts, adaptations, all carefully crafted with a minimalist 'black box' theatre style approach to captivate and inspire audiences.
Here is the line-up for our inaugural "An Evening of Vignettes," at the Castle:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Extract) by William Shakespeare
Two for a Girl (Extract) by Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton
The Princess in Room 102 by Paul O'Keeffe
The King of Piccadilly by Eoghan Power
The Knock by Rehan Ali
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Showcase Directors: Rehan Ali, Enda O’Driscoll, Colm Power & Sandra Power.Showcase Cast: Jacquie Ahern, Pat Quinn Bolger, Neill Bourke, Barry Comerford, Finn McLoughlin, Enda O’Driscoll, Aileen O’Keeffe, Paul O’Keeffe, Emma O'Leary, Colm Power, Sheenagh Raggett and David Shee.
Showcase Producers: Linda Fahy and Enda O'Driscoll
Wardrobe Coordinator and Hair & Make-up Artist: Mary McGrath
Lighting Technician: Dennis Barry
Event Photographer: Noreen Duggan Photography, supported by Dennis Barry.
Front of House: Mala Raggett
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This event is a unique collaboration with community-based creatives...and will be a fantastic opportunity to support local talent and dive into the dynamic performing arts scene of Carrick-on-Suir.
Booking opens Friday September 5th, so mark your calendar so you don't want to miss this celebration of creativity, reminiscent of the rich cultural performances from the Tudor era's magnificent Long Gallery!!
Culture Night is made possible thanks to the @The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon in partnership with Tipperary Arts Office.
A special thank you to the team at Ormond Castle and to OPW - Office of Public Works for facilitating this Culture Night event.
PRE-BOOKING REQUIRED, SEATING LIMITED.
Booking: Tudor Artisan Hub, 42 Main St, Carrick-on-Suir E32 FW66. Tel: 086 2560609/ 051 640921
www.ticketsource.com/tudor-artisan-hub
www.ticketsource.com/tudor-artisan-hub
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"An Evening of Vignettes," - Performing Arts Showcase
in the Long Gallery at Ormond Castle.
Produced by Linda Fahy, Tudor Artisan Hub in collaboration with actor/director Enda O'Driscoll.
Introduction: Culture Night is an Annual National event brought to you by the Arts Council, celebrating culture, creativity and the arts and is supported by Tipperary Arts Office. This is the 20th anniversary of Culture Night and our 12th year producing and showcasing original creative works of art.
For our 2025 Culture Night experience, we hosted a very special event, 'An Evening of Vignettes', showcasing 5 mini plays in the magnificent Long Gallery, at the Ormond Castle. The event was co-produced by actor/director Enda O'Driscoll and Linda Fahy, Tudor Artisan Hub, in collaboration with an amazing team of new, emerging and established writers, directors and actors from the Cultural Quarters here in Carrick-on-Suir, celebrating the vibrant creative talent within our community.
The 5 performances were a blend of theatrical extracts of original works by other playwrights - William Shakespeare and Mary Kelly & Noni Stapleton, also new literary adaptations by local writer Paul O’Keeffe and writer/film-maker Rehan Ali and a very special rehearsed reading of a short drama by a local writer/actor, the late Eoghan Power... all carefully crafted and staged with a minimalist theatre style approach, stripped back, focusing on impactful storytelling, to captivate and inspire our audience in new ways.
A very special thank you to Ormond Castle and to the OPW for facilitating this event for Culture Night and to the amazing Team at Ormond Castle for accommodating rehearsals around Castle Tours over the last several weeks. We really appreciate all your support.
I want to extend a very special thank you to the team of 14 local writers, actors and directors who have generously shared their time and talent, investing countless hours rehearsing for tonight’s event - Jacquie Ahern, Rehan Ali, Pat Quinn Bolger, Neill Bourke, Barry Comerford, Finn McLoughlin, Enda O’Driscoll, Aileen O’Keeffe, Paul O’Keeffe, Emma O'Leary, Colm Power, Sandra Power, Sheenagh Raggett and David Shee.
Thank you also to Dennis Barry on Lights/photography, Mary McGrath on Wardrobe, Mala Raggett - Meet & Greet, to Noreen Duggan - our official Event Photographer, Brewery Lane Theatre for costumes, Will McLellan for lending us the Stage Lights, to Jane O’Driscoll for manning the Hub enabling us to rehearse in the Castle over the last several weeks. And a very special thank you to my co-producer Enda O’Driscoll for taking this special journey with me, it has been amazing experience working together on this very special project.
Thank you to the audience for coming along to support this event to celebrate Culture Night with us all in Carrick-on-Suir.
There was a short 15 minute interval after the second play. The audience was asked to exit the Long Gallery with the Tour Guides and enjoy a short Heritage Tale while we set up for the second half of the evening's shorts.
Behind the scenes, in the Dressing Room.
Wardrobe, Make-up & Hair Artist - Mary McGrath.
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography
Behind the scenes:
Pat Quinn Bolger, as 'Josie' in 'Two for a girl' by Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography
Getting Ready for Culture Night 2025 in Ormond Castle
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography
Audiences Arriving
Photos by Noreen Duggan Photography
And so the evening begins...
Our first play was a scene from 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' by William Shakespeare. This is a comedy written around 1595-96, just 30 years after Ormond Castle was built, so it is very fitting and exciting for us to stage a Shakespeare production in a 16th Century Castle in our home town. This play explores themes of love, illusion, jealousy, and desire through magical misadventures, leading to romantic entanglements and comedic chaos before a resolution.
For Culture Night we staged a very short extract chosen and directed by Enda O’Driscoll, this short scene was performed by Enda, Emma O’Leary and Aileen O’Keeffe.
In this scene, Oberon, the King of the Fairies is rowing over a changeling boy with his wife The Fairy Queen, Titania...
Thank you Enda, Emma and Aileen....for a wonderful performance and to Mary McGrath for Costumes, hair and make-up.
In this scene, Oberon, the King of the Fairies is rowing over a changeling boy with his wife The Fairy Queen, Titania...
Thank you Enda, Emma and Aileen....for a wonderful performance and to Mary McGrath for Costumes, hair and make-up.
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography
For our Second Short Play, we staged an extract from ‘Two for a Girl’ written by Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton. This play tells the story of the ill-fated love affair between a young Traveller woman and a married farmer from Co. Tipperary. An irresistible story full of passion and humour which takes the audience across three decades and to every corner of Ireland.
This short was directed by Sandra Power and performed by Pat Quinn Bolger, Jacquie Ahern, David Shee and Sheenagh Raggett.
This Play, in full length is 45 minutes, our Director Sandra Power masterfully captured the essence of the play in a short extract, adapted especially for Culture Night with the kind permission of the writers.
Thank you to writers Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton for supporting us on this venture....'Two for a Girl' is an amazing play, we look forward to staging the full performance at a later date.
This short was directed by Sandra Power and performed by Pat Quinn Bolger, Jacquie Ahern, David Shee and Sheenagh Raggett.
This Play, in full length is 45 minutes, our Director Sandra Power masterfully captured the essence of the play in a short extract, adapted especially for Culture Night with the kind permission of the writers.
Thank you to writers Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton for supporting us on this venture....'Two for a Girl' is an amazing play, we look forward to staging the full performance at a later date.
Thank you Pat, Jacquie, David, Sheenagh and Sandra for staging such a powerful performing arts vignette last night.
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography.
Our third short performance for Culture Night was ‘The Princess in Room 102’ written by local writer Paul O’Keeffe, directed by Colm Power and performed by Paul O’Keeffe and Jacquie Ahern.
This play was written as a personal essay and adapted for the stage for Culture Night. It tells the tale of two young people trapped in a hospital’s psychiatric ward, who forge an unlikely friendship and an improbable escape plot.
This was Paul's very first time performing on stage...and wow, what a fabulous performance...
Thank you Paul for sharing your wonderful writing with us all, for taking the leap to perform your own piece...and to Jacquie, thank you so so much for your amazing performance as 'The Princess in Room 102'.
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography.
Our fourth performance was a special rehearsed reading of the short play,
'The King of Piccadilly' by the late Eoghan Power.
Eoghan won a ‘Hennessy Literary Award for New Irish Writing’ in 1982 for his essay ‘Conlon’s Bull’ and wrote frequently for the ‘Carrick Opinion’ Newspaper late 70s - early 80s. Eoghan wrote ‘The King of Piccadilly’ in the late 80s. It is set in Carrick-on-Suir, to the backdrop of seventies emigration. Two friends about to do their Leaving Cert meet to have their usual chat, but the uncertainty of their future seeps into their conversation.
The reading was performed by Eoghan's brother, Colm and his friend Barry Comerford. Barry was in the original performance of the piece, playing alongside Eoghan himself in Brewery Lane Theatre in the 90s, that performance was directed by the late Tom Nealon.
The reading was performed by Eoghan's brother, Colm and his friend Barry Comerford. Barry was in the original performance of the piece, playing alongside Eoghan himself in Brewery Lane Theatre in the 90s, that performance was directed by the late Tom Nealon.
What a wonderful piece of writing...delivered beautifully by Colm and Barry....they had the audience in stitches. Thank you both, it was very special for us all to have Eoghan's piece included in this showcase.
Photography by Noreen Duggan Photography.
Our last performance of the evening was a new original short play called ‘The Knock’.
‘The Knock' was adapted from the personal essay 'Those who knocked on room 39' written by Rehan Ali and originally published in Atlantic Currents II: Connecting Cork & Lowell - in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Rehan Ali, originally from Pakistan, arrived in Ireland with his Family, in 2005 at the age of 5 and they were provided accommodation in Bridgewater House, Direct Provision Centre, on Main St, here in Carrick-on-Suir. These centres, introduced as a short-term measure back in 2000 are state-provided, privately-run accommodation for people applying for international protection.
Rehan’s family remained in this facility for 10 years.
While the original essay was a love letter to the children the writer grew up alongside in Bridgewater House, ‘The Knock' explores themes of differing perspectives on shared memories, the complex interplay between choice and fate, the cyclical nature of oppressive institutions, and the role of complacency and bureaucracy in human suffering.
‘The Knock’ was written/directed by Rehan Ali for Culture Night and was performed by Neill Bourke and Finn McLoughlin. Wow what a closing....'The Knock' was powerfully performed by Neill and Finn...this piece brought up a lot of emotions...beautifully written. Thank you Rehan, Neill and Finn...for sharing your amazing talents with us all
The Closing: I hope you enjoyed this very special evening of short plays.
Across these works, you may have noticed that themes of isolation and connection are prevalent, demonstrating how personal and societal barriers can be overcome through empathy, compassion and storytelling. Each narrative offered a unique perspective on the potential for human connection, even in the face of adversity and societal challenges. These stories remind us of the marginalisation that can occur in various forms and encourage us to seek understanding and inclusivity in all aspects of life.
Now as we draw this remarkable evening to a close, I would like express my heartfelt gratitude and admiration for each and every one of you who joined us on this journey. This event envisioned by Linda, at the Tudor Artisan Hub, who invited me, to embark on this bold and innovative adventure in the performing arts. Together, we dared to step outside our comfort zones, offering a platform for new writers, directors, and actors to challenge themselves in a nurturing and inspiring environment.
Tonight, we have witnessed the fruits of collaboration with neighbouring long-standing award-winning groups, the Carrick-on-Suir Musical Society and Brewery Lane Theatre, in the Cultural Quarters Carrick-on-Suir- who have enriched our showcase with their talents and passion. It has been an honour to work alongside you all, creating a tapestry of storytelling that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Staging this showcase in the historic Long Gallery of Ormond Castle, right here in our hometown, is truly a dream come true for Linda, for me, and for everyone involved. This venue, steeped in history, has provided the perfect backdrop for an evening dedicated to creativity, connection, and cultural exchange.
We could not have brought this evening to life without the incredible team of creatives who have poured their time, energy, and talents into this event. Their dedication has made tonight possible, and for that, we are eternally grateful. Thank you all for being part of this journey with us.
We hope to further develop some or all of these short plays, adapting them, to stage back here at Ormond Castle and maybe other venues within the Cultural District. These may become full-length productions, or if this format is well-received - which it certainly has, feedback has been overwhelming, we might consider staging another showcase of new performing arts shorts in the near future
Thank you for being a wonderful audience, and have a great night! - (Linda and Enda.)
PRE Culture Night 2025 Rehearsals for ‘An Evening of Vignettes' in the magnificent Long Gallery, Ormond Castle... showcasing 5 wonderful short plays.
Photos by Dennis Barry Photography capturing our pre-official Dress rehearsal with cast only, Sunday 14th September in the morning - this was the very first time all 5 plays were performed in sequence....before we went live in front of a full audience...
Fueling up in between performances!
Photos by Dennis Barry Photography capturing moments during the second performance of the evening.
Press Release, Post event!
