Taking a show around the country is fun, but it's not easy. Anna Carey meets a team rising to the challenge with a hit play about speed dating
The best way to see Ireland isn't by bus tour or river cruise. It's by taking a play around the country, according to Carmel Stephens and Iseult Golden, the stars and writers of Tick My Box!, a smash hit from last year's Dublin Fringe Festival that has gone on tour. "We've got to see some lovely places," says Stephens. "And you get to meet lots of different interesting people all over the country, usually in the pub after the show." Golden agrees. "Sometimes it's annoying to keep moving on," she says. "You reach a town and wish you could stay there for a few more days."
Four years ago Stephens and Golden set up Inis theatre company with the director David Horan. Although they're based in Dublin, they have taken all their shows on tour. "We've always been aware that our productions need to be physically light," says Golden. "Everything has to be easily transportable. And we made sure that this particular show was especially mobile."
Touring Ireland's small theatres can be a challenge - although not as challenging as it used to be. Producers and actors remember the days when touring meant playing in draughty, badly lit halls with no dressing rooms. But a decade ago things started to get a lot better. The mid 1990s saw a boom in provincial theatres, with arts centres and performance spaces springing up in former church halls and psychiatric hospitals as well as specially built venues. The Schoolyard Theatre, in Charleville, Co Cork, was a primary school until an enthusiastic amateur-theatre group took it over, in 1993, since when it has hosted productions from "everyone but the Abbey", according to Kevin O'Shea, its manager.
Monaghan's Garage Theatre was also founded in 1993; it got its name from its first show, Frank Pig Says Hello, by Patrick McCabe. "In the film version, The Butcher Boy, the little boy says that his mentally ill mother has 'gone to the garage to get her ankle tightened'," says Eileen Costello, the theatre's artistic director. "So as we're in a former mental institution, we thought the Garage was a suitable name."
The variety of venues means that touring companies have to adapt their work for wildly different performance spaces. This can be difficult, even for a simply staged production such as Tick My Box! "It's always the same props: a table, two chairs and a sign," says Golden. "But we've had to use them in different ways. Sometimes there are no stage lights, sometimes you've got two levels on the stage. You've got to work around the geography of every different space, changing the entrances and exits, for example. But sometimes you're forced to make changes because of space which actually become part of the show in the future." Stephens says: "It can be a challenge, but it can really add to the show and freshen things up."
It also forces actors to think on their feet. The Inis actors were unfamiliar with most of the venues on their tour, meaning they have seen each night's performance space only a few hours before they were due on stage. "We travel in the morning, tech in the afternoon and perform that night," says Golden, who believes this can be a boon to the play. "Every venue is totally fresh. And that's good for a theatre show. There's always the danger of becoming stale. But when you're constantly reworking things for every show, you can't just go through the motions. I like the freshness touring brings. You don't get that on a long run in one place; when you're going to the same place every night it can start to feel like a day job. But on tour every night is different."
Touring productions are also a boon to theatres, allowing even small venues to offer the variety that is essential to success. "We take more of a mix than a big city venue, because we're not just set up for one audience," says Paul O'Hanrahan, director of Droichead Arts Centre, in Drogheda, which is also the home of two well-regarded theatre companies, Calipo and Upstate. "We've got a smaller population base to draw on, so we've got to appeal to lots of different people."
Funny, touching and impeccably performed, Tick My Box! is a perfect crowd-pleaser. "I think it's a bit more accessible [ than our previous productions]," says Golden. "And," says Stephens, "it's about love and the need for love, which is something that appeals across the generations." The show's hosts agree. "It's a contemporary, fun theme," says O'Hanrahan. "It's something that we know a lot of people will be interested in."
But provincial venues are also unafraid to take risks - and risks can pay off. "Last month we had a big success with a production of Brecht and Weill's Threepenny Opera by Bruiser, a Belfast theatre company," says O'Hanrahan. "It had never been performed here in Drogheda before, and you might think the fact that there's opera in the name would put people off, but there was a big turnout for it."
Although some small theatres report better ticket sales for local productions, with audiences less willing to chance unfamiliar shows, O'Hanrahan says this is changing. "Five years ago it was like that, but I think now people are also looking for a good, professional night out in the theatre. I think we've got a good healthy balance here of amateur and professional productions - and we encourage the amateur-theatre people to go to the professional shows. We're trying to create a buzz about the activity of theatre."
Despite the excitement and the theatrical challenges, touring can be very draining. The physical demands of putting on a play in a different venue every night can wear out a touring player. "I miss having weekends," says Golden. But she and Stephens say they can always find the energy to put on a good show. "The adrenalin gets you through it every time," says Golden.
They're also buoyed by their characters. When getting ready before each performance, the two actors adopt the roles of Siobhán and Seamus, the speed-dating event organisers. "We love Siobhán and Seamus," says Stephens. "And that love gives you a sort of energy that carries through into the auditorium."
The reaction of the audience also keeps the actors going. "They are generally enjoying it and having a good time, so that provides energy, too," says Golden. "I think it would be really difficult touring a tragedy around the country. You'd feel like killing yourself after the first few nights."
But despite the stress, the strain and the unhealthy diet - "We're really trying to have healthy lunches, but I keep falling for the cooked breakfast," sighs Golden - touring with a production has rewards for actors and venues alike. So, having spent a few weeks on the road, what is the best part of it? "A different man in every town," says Stephens dreamily. "No, really, it's just good fun. Just driving around, chatting on the road, meeting new people. It's a great way to work."