"Sunny South-East", indeed? There we were, on our annual holiday in north Co Wexford, shivering and sodden, while the north and west of the country was bathed in sunshine. Unfair. Unnatural. Unbearable. And to make it worse, the weather forecast had told us it would be the other way round, just as it's supposed to be.
Normally, I'm a defender of Met ╔ireann, the sort of pedant who interrupts the chorus of criticism to say, "To be fair, they do get it right a high percentage of the time, it's just that we notice the mistakes more (drone, drone)." Well, to hell with that, I'm joining the mob. I mean, it's one thing not to know what the weather is going to do, but surely they should know what the weather is actually doing. One evening, for instance, I was watching genial Gerard Fleming assuring us from his nice dry studio in MetEireannland that the "patches" of rain had now cleared the country and were moving off to Wales (and he had a computer graphic to prove it) - while a day-long downpour was beating a drum-roll on the roof of our our mobile home in Castletown, Co Wexford, south-east Ireland.
Gorey Little Theatre
Such were my thoughts as I squelched my way, grim-visaged and damp to the bone, down the main street of Gorey on a recent Tuesday afternoon, when my eye was caught (through rain-spattered spectacles) by a shop-window flyer advertising Gorey Little Theatre Group's production of The Field, by John B. Keane, every Tuesday and Thursday in July and August. Well, it must beat watching the rain.
And so it was that I spent an evening at the cosy and convivial Little Theatre and redeemed a miserable day. I'm sure there have been better performances of The Field, but also many more worse ones, and I certainly found it far truer and more enjoyable than the melodramatic celluloid version of a few years back. I won't pretend the amateur cast were uniformly excellent, but the main parts punched their weight and, most importantly, Michael Redmond filled the muddy boots of the Bull McCabe with a fine mixture of menace and pathos.
The part of William Dee, the would-be purchaser of the widow's field who meets a bloody end at the hands of the Bull and his gormless son, was played by Malcolm Byrne, current chairperson of the theatre group. At the post-performance gathering in Brennan's pub (to which an open invitation was proffered), he explained that the group was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and several of its original members were still actively involved. They have been putting on a summer show for the benefit of both residents and "bathers" - as holidaymakers are dubbed locally - every year since 1967. "As far as we're aware," Malcolm says, "no other group in Ireland can match that record."
Purpose-built theatre
The group can also boast the distinction of having built their own theatre - in 1971 - with funding from local people and businesses. Refurbished five years ago, it also serves as a venue for concerts, comedy shows, musicals, workshops and bingo. There are now plans to extend the building with the help of a grant of £290,000 from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, secured just this week - the first State funding in the theatre's history.
Because of the commitment required to stage a show twice weekly for nine weeks, two separate casts are rehearsed for summer productions - though in emergencies players can find themselves switched at short notice. For The Field, a total of 27 players worked under the direction of Pat Connaughton, a schoolteacher in Bunclody who has won all-Ireland awards for both acting and producing (the number is odd, because three young actors shared the part of the boy Leamey Flanagan).
About another 20 people helped out backstage - most of them aged under 30, according to Malcolm Byrne, who is himself just 27. In offstage life, he is commercial manager of myhome.ie, the portal website set up by a clutch of leading estate agents. A Fianna Fβil town commissioner, he has been politically active since his student days at UCD. He could serve as proof that a passion for amateur dramatics sits easily with dot.coms, politics and the property boom.
Tapping enthusiam
Earlier this year, he says, the Gate Theatre producer Kevin McHugh came down to Gorey to run workshops for people who had little or no stage experience. "We expected maybe 12 or 13 people," says Malcolm. "Fifty-eight turned up." If Gorey Little Theatre Group can continue to tap such enthusiasm, its future should be secure for at least another 50 years.
Its next production, in October, will be a performance of Lennox Robinson's The Whiteheaded Boy, the first play staged by the group back in 1951. Aspiring actors in the south-east should note that auditions will be held towards the end of August, and Malcolm Byrne will be happy to hear from you on 087-223-7102. Meanwhile, The Field is running on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8.30 p.m. It's well worth a visit, foul weather or fair.