CRAIC Theatre Coalisland

NEWS: Autumn at CRAIC

2010-08-25T11:44:00.001-07:00

CRAIC has been working hard to finalise the Autumn Programme, with a mini film festival as part of the line-up in September.

Friday 1st October: Credit Union League of Ireland presents The Big Talent Show for 12-19 year olds...The CU Factor.

Sunday 9th October: Michael McCoy Star comedy Hypnotist.

Friday 15th October: The Boat Factory - a play written by, directed by, and starring Dan Gordon.

Thursday 21st October - Saturday 23rd October: Craic One Act Drama Festival. 6 plays over 3 nights. Companies from Wexford, Donegal, Bangor & Belfast.

Friday 5th November: "National Anthem" presented by Ransom Theatre Company.

Thursday 11th - Sunday 14th November and Thursday 18th - Sunday 21st November: Craic Theatre presents "The Righteous Are Bold" by Frank Carney.

Wednesday 24th November - Sunday 28th November: Martin Ryan presents "Music From The 70's Stage Show".

Monday 29th November -Friday 3rd December: Centre Stage presents "Little Miss Muffet's Magical Christmas" Panto for schools.

Friday 10th December: Gaelscoil Ui Neill presents their annual "Christmas Show".

Wednesday 15th -Sunday 19th December: Edendork Primary School presents "Jack and The Beanstalk".

For information on joining the CRAIC film club or entering the CU Factor contact Oliver Corr.

NEWS: A drama on elder abuse comes to CRAIC

2010-06-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sole Purpose Productions will take their gripping play on elder abuse, 'See no Evil', to CRAIC Theatre on Monday 21st June at 11am. Their tour, which runs from 2nd to 25th June, marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15th. This annual event was established by the United Nations to give abuse and neglect of older adults a global relevance and to highlight appropriate action.
Written by Patricia Byrne and directed by Shauna Kelpie, See No Evil tells the story of how vulnerable elderly farmer Danny, illiterate and living alone, is "looked after" by his neighbours. Grateful for their assistance, he is unaware that these helpful neighbours are actually helping themselves to his finances, manipulating his thoughts and actions, and turning him against the only family he has left. When his niece visits from London, she can sense that something sinister is in the air, but is she too late to stop it?
This riveting play looks at financial, emotional and psychological abuse. It illustrates the subtle dynamic that exists between the victim and the perpetrator and the difficulties in recognising this kind of abuse.

REVIEW: There’s No Place Like Home

2010-06-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Explaining this play to a friend by throwing together a quick synopsis would probably give off the wrong idea. Whilst it’s about a woman getting older and facing the pressure of her children wanting her to go into a home, the nature of the majority of the characters makes it rather light-hearted and fluffy. However, that is not to say that there aren’t some touching moments thanks to Derval Girvan and Micky Carolan who play the older pair, Alice and Jimmy.

This is a play that sparks a number of emotions, despite its overall lightness. Brother and sister, Barry and Barbara, played by Kevin Campbell and Laragh Cullen, served up a treat of believable and familiar sibling rivalry. Cullen’s ability to throw spiteful, cutting looks never faltered throughout, and her sharpness prevailed every time, leaving poor Barry to look the fool. Apart from Carolan’s character, men come out of this play looking less than admirable. Barry is a typical sleaze who has left his wife for a younger woman, and Cormac (Mark Shields) is Barbara’s husband who, not very subtly, lusts after the same woman in a way that would make any audience member wince. Cormac finds himself on the end of Barbara’s sharp tongue (not in a good way) so much throughout the play that you really begin to wish he would give her a good telling off. He doesn’t though. He just puts up with it, whilst at the same time Barry realises he wants his wife back.

A standout scene occurs when Barry and his young thing (brilliantly accented by Caroline O’Neill) buys his mother a new rocking chair for her birthday. Unfortunately for them it collapses into pieces once Alice tries it out, and the audience is treated to a great piece of old fashioned slapstick.

It was appropriate that the play ended with Carolan and Girvan on stage, as their partnership was what made this play truly touching and worth seeing. Both actors made their characters very believable and the fact that they were older added some intrigue to their personalities. Was it plausible to think they’d get married? It didn’t really matter, as the final scene came to a close with a romantic embrace and…bubbles. As always, there’s no place like CRAIC Theatre when you want a bit of light entertainment!

REVIEW: Sive

2010-05-01T09:48:00.001-07:00

Last weekend saw the Bardic group take 'Sive' to CRAIC Theatre, as audience members were treated to a stellar cast of old faithfuls and a couple of undoubtedly new staples on the local theatre circuit. Keane’s 'Sive' is a melodramatic comment on life in 1950s Ireland, in which Keane condemns the societal norms of arranged marriage with the promise of money and land, as well as giving an insight into the mindsets of the period. It is reminiscent of earlier melodrama by the likes of John M. Synge and Dion Boucicault, who along with Keane are playwrights that the local theatre groups should utilise more often.

In this production of 'Sive', the Bardic group dealt a killer blow to the opinion that amateur dramatics is what the small town/country folk have to settle for as all the professionals are in the big city theatres. This production wouldn’t look out of place in London’s West End due to the calibre of the performances by the actors involved. To pick a stand-out performance would be impossible as each and every actor on stage was of a professional standard. Ann McCourt played Mena with slightly less venom than Keane may have intended but the subtle style employed by her coupled with her naturalness on stage was very successful. Frances Jordan played a blinder as the old grandmother, and endeared the audience to her immediately. Her walk, her facial expressions, the way she sat with her knees uncouthly apart, the contrasting ways in which she spoke to Sive and Mena, everything about her performance was comment worthy. Jim McKeown may have been the actor to get into his role the most, as his portrayal of Thomasheen Sean Rua was injected with lots of little nuances, such as biting his nails (or the skin around his nails…), warming his hands at the fire, and sneakily looking out through the window. Veteran Frank Fee looked right at home in the rural Irish house and, as can be expected, delivered another natural and commendable performance as the browbeaten husband and son. Sive was played by Anna Deery, and she was perfect for the part as she conveyed a sense of innocence, naiveté, youth, powerlessness and helplessness – everything Keane intended Sive to be.

Already a well known and lauded piece of the theatre, the Bardic knew that with 'Sive' they were running with a crowd pleaser. However, the way in which it was done is what made it so memorable. The set was convincing, the directing was spot on, the music between scenes was haunting, but overall it was the quality of the acting that made this an evening out to be talked about over the breakfast table the next morning for all the right reasons. With such powerful performances, many audience members simply wouldn’t have had the strength to talk about it afterwards due to the emotional ending. There was no gradual standing ovation here, but instead the audience instantly rose to their feet. This is a local production that will be remembered for some time.

REVIEW: Murder at Green Acres

2010-05-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Footlights drama group has been on the go for nineteen years now and has nurtured theatrical talents in countless young people in the Dungannon area and beyond. This production, which was staged in CRAIC Theatre on 22nd and 23rd April, epitomises everything that Footlights stands for. An original stage play, written and directed by Roisin-Anne McGeown (under the pseudonym of Paul Convery), the comical ‘whodunnit’ story required an extravagant sixteen actors, therefore providing a great opportunity for members of the Footlights group to hone their skills.

But this wasn’t simply just an exercise in which to give the young people a run out on the stage. This was a production that was professional, enjoyable, engaging and nothing but commendable. Not only was the plot fantastic, calling to mind the likes of The Mouse Trap and The 39 Steps, but with a play comprising so many actors the audience was able to differentiate between the characters and easily follow the intricate storyline. Particular attention should be paid to Maire Fahy, who played Marjorie Fortesque, with her unfaltering English accent, haughty airs and quick temper, her performance was nothing short of excellent.

Other stand out performances came with Kevin Campbell’s portrayal of Geoffrey, and Harry-Og Conlon’s interpretation of Rev Winklebottom . The bubbling English accents of these two were most entertaining, and they made their comical situations even funnier.

The interaction between the actors on stage was perhaps what made this play such a winner with an audience that had members from all age groups. Seeing productions like this just proves how brilliant community theatre can be and how important it is that we support it.

REVIEW: Rock Doves (UK Premiere)

2010-04-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Theatre goers arrived at CRAIC last night with high expectations: Marie Jones’ latest play debuting, Adrian Dunbar treading the Coalisland boards, Tony award nominee Ian McElhinney directing, and the promise of all the action taking place in a derelict Belfast flat. Few left disappointed, if any. Jones has triumphed once again with a script that is full of characters that the audience care about within seconds of them arriving on stage.
The play sees alcoholic Knacker (Dunbar) forced to share his squat with a young lad (Matthew McElhinney) who is in hiding from paramilitaries. Knacker has a long term friend in Bella (Carol Moore), with whom he drinks and fights with, but it’s easy to see that they appreciate each other’s company and depend on one another. With the usual injection of Jones’ comedy comes Lillian, Bella’s transvestite brother, who makes his money as a Tina Turner tribute act.
Arguably a little slow to start, the play has some stand out pieces of dialogue and a few effective motifs throughout. One humerous exchange early in the play between Knacker and The Boy drew raucous laughter from the audience, as Knacker defends his decision not to wash. The relationship between Knacker and The Boy is one of the many victories in this play.
Moore depicted the character of Bella convincingly and made her extremely likeable, with a lazy accent and in a perfect costume. A very unfortunate sort, she says that after running away from home she always wanted someone to come and find her or wonder where she was. Very sad indeed. But in true Jones style this is followed up with her saying that it was typical that, when someone was looking for her, it was a brother who turned out to be a transvestite that needed her help.
Knacker refers to his drink as his wife throughout, and talks about turning the TV on and watching various programmes despite there not being a plug. He then goes off on tangents shouting, “Repeat, repeat.” His annoyance of things being repeated is actually a successful element to the play. In the closing minutes of the play, the idea of the TV being turned on is once again revisited. However, this time Knacker tells Bella to “wise up”.
Although it becomes clear very early that The Boy is running away from paramilitaries, it isn’t clear what side he’s on. Some audience members believed for a time that he was a dissident republican in the present day, only realizing that he is a protestant when he starts talking about the bonfire in the run up to “the celebration” as Jones subtly calls it. I have no doubt that this ambiguity is a deliberate effort by Jones to convey that everyone is bad as each other and that it doesn’t matter what religion The Boy is, but that the audience should identify with him regardless.
So many little details make this play brilliant. From Knacker being irritated at a button falling off his coat, to the excellent choice of music by Ennio Morricone between scenes. The Morricone music is from the film ‘Once upon a time in the West’, and this theme runs through Knacker’s playing of a harmonica, as Charles Bronson plays the same instrument in the film. The most powerful scene in the play is one in which Bella and Knacker are dancing as he plays the harmonica and it is cut short by gun shots.
That scene perhaps sums of the entire production: A mixture of emotions, from the highs of euphoria, laughter and friendship, to the lows of pity, depression and alcoholism.
Marie Jones can certainly write a script and everyone needs to see this one.
However, the one thing that this play needs is a box of herbal cigarettes, as there isn't a group of people on this Earth that look more like smokers than Knacker, Bella, Lillian and The Boy.
Hurry up with the next one Marie.

NEWS: Oscar winner to be screened at CRAIC tomorrow night

2010-03-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

The winner of ‘Best Picture’ at the recent Oscars ceremony, The Hurt Locker, will be screened at 8pm in CRAIC Theatre tomorrow night (Wednesday 31st March). The Hurt Locker was up against films such as An Education, The Blind Side and Avatar.
For reviews of the film by Kevin Maher and Peter Bradshaw, click below:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article6812589.ece

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/28/the-hurt-locker-review

REVIEW: The Sign of the Whale (CRAIC Theatre, Saturday 27th March)

2010-03-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Written by Jimmy McAleavey, The Sign of the Whale is the latest play based on the Troubles in Northern Ireland. A theme which is a staple of Northern Irish playwrights, it seems that it is one that will remain for some time, despite split opinion over whether or not pre-occupation with the Troubles in the arts should continue into the noughties.
This play takes an original approach, one that audiences have yet to see, as it centers on the arrival of a whale to Belfast in the midst of the Troubles in 1977. Although it took this reviewer a while to rest upon this theory, the theatrically contemporary set could be viewed as the belly of the whale. As the play progresses, this theory becomes all the more believable as it is as though Dermy (the sub-editor) and Tony (the teenager) become totally consumed by the whale in a metaphorical sense. The set appears to act as a literal representation of this obsession, and it works well in doing so.
Dermy and Tony are blind, and both actors are remarkably convincing in acting this out, particularly Miche Doherty who plays Dermy. Doherty is superb throughout, never faltering or losing character but consistently excellent with his emotion, paranoia, and humour. The fusion of humour and tragedy is what audiences have come to expect from plays based on the Troubles, due to playwrights such as Martin Lynch and Marie Jones, and this piece by Jimmy McAleavey is no exception. Dermy provoked quite the laughter eruption in impersonating his wife saying, “I married a rich tea biscuit dressed up as a wagon wheel”.
Paranoia is a big part of this play and this is conveyed through the actors’ behaviour and the dialogue, particularly in Dermy’s descriptions of where it’s safe to walk and what religion a person is if they’re seen walking up Castle Street or down Divis Street.
The play is broken up by news reports played by two actors behind a screen at the back of the stage. These were a welcome distraction from the intensity of Dermy and Tony, and brought with them a light heartedness that was needed to keep the audience engaged.
For this reviewer, the most effective part of the play was in the second half when Dermy and Tony leave Belfast as they know it and look into its future. This is achieved by Dermy pretending to open a door at the front of the stage and once its opened the future is revealed as the audience sitting in 2010.
The impressive acting, effective sound and lighting, and originality is what makes this play a success. However, anyone expecting a traditional narrative with a clear storyline will be disappointed.

NEWS: Marie Jones world premiere in CRAIC Theatre

2010-03-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

Marie Jones’ latest play Rock Doves is set to premiere in CRAIC Theatre in Coalisland on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th April. A new play directed by Jones’ husband Ian McElhinny, the world premiere of Rock Doves will bring acclaimed actor Adrian Dunbar to the Coalisland stage.
Famed for plays such as A Night in November and Stones in his Pockets (both of which played the West End and Broadway), Jones has never shied away from controversial issues such as suicide, sectarianism and rejection. However, her trademark lies in her ability to entertain as well as pack a punch. Rock Doves adheres to her previous form and deals with a serious subject matter in the typical witty and moving style that theatre goers have come to expect.
Rock Doves plays out entirely in a derelict house on the edge of a working-class housing estate in Belfast, where the community is controlled by the criminal element that has blossomed since the ceasefire. The play centres around the characters of Knacker, the boy, Bella and Lillian. Knacker is a tramp who lives by his wits but is possibly more sane than those in the real world around him; The boy, who remains nameless, is on the run from paramilitaries whom he has betrayed; Bella has lived on the streets for years but has been given a safe haven in the community, provided she lets her house be run as a brothel; Lillian is Bella’s transvestite brother who is protected only by the fact that he does a drag act as Tina Turner.
The play is a family affair with Jones having written it, her husband directing, and their son Matthew playing the part of the boy. Along with Adrian Dunbar, the play also stars Carol Moore and Ian Beattie.
This play is the first production for Rathmore Productions, which is a company set up by Ian McElhinny and Marie Jones to promote new work.
Tickets are available to purchase for £12 from the CRAIC Theatre Box office on 02887741100.