Full background to the project can be read here:
'What Kind of Blue?', written by David Ryan, directed by Colm Power and performed by Peg Power and Colm Power, this wonderful short play illustrates the importance of family, community, and the power of love with a connection spanning the decades.
Kintsugi', written by Patricia Cantwell, directed by Suzanne Dunne and performed by Maria Clancy and Neill Bourke. This poignant, heart-warming short drama reveals how a character makes a beautiful life out of the broken pieces, like the Japanese art of repairing a crack with a seal of gold.
'The Magical Moon', written by Eileen Heneghan, directed by Sandra Power and performed by Pat Quinn Bolger, Walter Dunphy and Eileen Butler This inspiring short drama tells of the imaginative connection between a mother and daughter despite enforced separation first through illness, then emigration.
2021 Radio Dramas Volume Two - Culture Night
‘The Value of an Education’, a play that shows how a life comes full circle, despite surprising detours along the way is written by Joe Whelan, directed by Suzanne Shine, performed by Jim English and Suzanne Shine.
Writer Joe Whelan was born in Clonmel. Joe is a member of 'Poetry Plus' writers in Carrick-on-Suir, the 'Backroom Poets', Clonmel and has had his work published with the Clonmel Junction Arts Festival, on Trasna – Richard Howe blog, USA and has performed at the Dublin Story Slam. Director Suzanne Shine, a native of Cork, fell in love with theatre at a very young age. Suzanne has been involved with many groups including Clonmel Theatre Guild, the Break-A-Leg theatre company, and the renowned Brewery Lane Theatre ensemble, Carrick on Suir. She won Waterford’s inaugural Best Female Performance Green Room Award, in 2020.
This is followed by ‘Keep your best side out’, a play about what to expect after… if there is to be an after is written by Lorna Grant, directed by Colm Power, performed by Walter Dunphy, Ellen Foley and Aaron Fichera (USA).
Writer Lorna Grant, is a single mum to three children. As a mature student she gained a BA and MA in English. Her aim is to become a full-time writer and is currently working on a novel and idea for a screenplay. Director Colm Power is a musician, actor and director from Carrick-on-Suir. He has been involved with Brewery Lane Theatre since 2000 and has acted in many productions winning best actor at the ‘Green Room’ awards for his performance of JPW in Tom Murphy’s ‘The Gigli Concert’.
Culture Night is brought to you by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Creative Ireland Programme in partnership with Tipperary County Council.
2021 Radio Dramas Volume Three - LLPPS Round 2 Funding
The third volume in a series of seven new radio dramas inspired by the stories of nursing home residents in County Tipperary first broadcast at 7pm on Thursday, December 30. The final two plays, ‘Filling the Silence with Song’ by Christine O’Connor and ‘They Don’t Want Us to Mix’ by Mawie Barrett, were written in response to interviews with nursing home residents recorded remotely over mobile phones and tablets during lockdown at the beginning of 2021, and form part of ‘The Making of Radio Dramas in a Virtual Realm’ series. When asked to talk about a time in their lives when the world was turned on its head, the nursing home residents told diverse, inspiring, and often very personal stories of resilience and challenges overcome.
‘They Don’t Want Us to Mix’ by Mawie Barrett is directed by Peg Power and acted by Mary O’Hanlon. In this play a nursing home resident finds herself cocooned in an upstairs room as the care staff endeavour to protect the residents during the COVID 19 pandemic, and ruminates on the highs and lows of life, moving from the pandemic to the social constraints of an earlier time and the joy of music.
The second play, ‘Filling the Silence with Song’, is written by Christine O’Connor, directed by Enda O’Driscoll, and acted by Esther Byrne and Emma O’Leary. The play is a conversation between a nursing home resident in her 90s and a Catholic nun in her 60s from a nearby abbey. Starting as a light conversation over a pot of tea, the story soon turns to the challenges of life, wisdom stemming from experience, the meaning of dreams and a crisis of faith, ultimately resolving in meaning and consolation found in music and human kindness.
