Presenting "Shakespeare's a Dick"

It's that time of year again, and the One-Act Festival Circuit is upon us. This year, our One-Act Director is Nora Scannell, who last year brought our one-act play "The Valiant" all the way to the Finals in Ballyshannon.

This year, Nora is bringing the hilarious comedy, "Shakespeare's a Dick" to life on the stage. Written by Mark Aloysius Kenneally, it tells the tale of Wally (Donal MacSweeney), a card-carrying Red-neck from Georgia who curses the name of Shakespeare and ops to attend a Monster Truck Rally instead of going to see "As you Like It" with his girlfriend Doris (Colette Daly). The next morning, he finds he has been cursed by the spirit of The Bard in the most unlikely of ways! His best friend, Ramie (Denis O'Sullivan), searches for a cure from their old high-school english teacher, Mrs. Freeman (Rosarie Murphy), while Doris swoons for the New Wally.

Having been involved in the production of this year's play, I am again amazed by the amount of hard-work, commitment and artistry that everyone brings to the table. The four players have mastered red-neck accents, movements and mannerisms to a tee, and Nora has directed them on stage masterfully. Our Stage Manager, Miriam Daly, leaves no stone unturned to achieve the authentic look and feel of a small-town-Georgia trailer park home, in the props and customs used onstage, and the set itself is brought to life physically by our fantastic set-builder, Kirk Girdwood.

Kirk is also designing and operating the lighting for the play, to allow the lighting to really help put you in that trailer home, and to enhance the drama of some of the more, shall we say, outlandish of scenes!

Further setting the mood of the play is the sound design by Ian Flavin, who puts us right in red-neck country with a soundtrack of country, rock and bluegrass, along with some unique sound-effects to herald the coming spirit of The Bard. All of these sounds are expertly levelled and delivered during the performance by our talented Sound Engineer, Aidan O'Shea.

This play has it all, and packs a hell of a lot into one act! There is comedy, drama, pathos, a love story (well, two, kinda!), and lots more besides. If you can't make it to one of our Festival Performances, stay tuned here for details of local performances in Rossmore.