Down an almost medieval lane, lit by a single street lamp, the loyal patrons flock nightly to watch the works of Friel or Synge or John B. Keane performed by a drama group that has entertained Carrick-on-Suir for the past 40 years.The venue, which could be called a pocket theatre, has plenty of character, located as it is in an old brewery building of the last century. But the Brewery Lane Theatre Group faces the classic dilemma of a compact theatre: how can you generate sufficient revenue for essential development work when you can seat less than 70 at each performance?The group desperately needs a financial injection to help it undertake refurbishment of the old grainstore premises. It has drawn up a £90,000 development plan which would permit basic conversion of the makeshift auditorium and provide some modern facilities for actors and audiences. But it has failed so far to secure any Lottery or state funding, although its importance as a social and cultural outlet for the Co Tipperary town is self-evident and it has consistently demonstrated high standards in production and acting.Local sponsors have helped the group to survive in recent years. Since they moved into the brewery premises in the mid-1970s, the members themselves have raised some £60,000 through voluntary efforts and used it for maintenance and improvement of the historic building.The Clancy family, of musical fame, has had a long association with this theatrical tradition in Carrick-on-Suir. In 1955 Liam Clancy and local teacher, Liam Hogan, formed the Carrick Drama Group and it opened with The Playboy of the Western World at the Foresters' Hall in the town.The first production in the Brewery Lane venue was in 1980, when The Plough and the Stars was put on. Peg Power, Liam Clancy's sister, has been a stalwart of the group's many productions, as both actor and director, and she directed the production of Dancing At Lughnasa which has just ended a two-week run.With over 90 young people taking part in drama workshops each year, the group has fostered a vibrant tradition of youth drama and some of these young people are now making a name in the country's burgeoning film industry.The talent and the energy are available in abundance. Now the Brewery Lane Theatre Group anxiously awaits the green light to consolidate the theatre itself and provide Carrick and the surrounding region with a multi-purpose venue which will be a permanent asset.The plan for the premises includes an extension of the stage creation of an exhibition space, and preservation of the kiln area of what used to be Feehans Brewery in the last century.