Sinead closes an acting circle in Kilcullen

Sinead McKenna with Gerry O'Donoghue in 'For Better, For Worse'.

When Sinead McKenna steps out in front of an audience this week in the Town Hall Theatre in For Better, For Worse by Kilcullen Drama Group, she will be closing a circle with her late grandfather, Johnny O'Neill, a stalwart of the early days of the group, writes Brian Byrne.

It is Sinead's first time performing with the Kilcullen group, and she'll no doubt be reflecting on the stories  told in her family about Johnny, who lived on Main Street. "I was just eighteen months old when he died, so I never knew him," she says, "but he was always talked about while I was growing up, how much he loved the drama and acting."

Sinead's mother Mary O'Neill grew up on Main Street, but Sinead lives in Newbridge and did speech and drama in the Holy Family school in Newbridge. She did some acting there and also got involved with Kildare Youth Theatre at the Riverbank Arts Centre. That included a part in Red Ball in the Everyman Theatre in Cork in 2004 while travelling with amateur youth drama. Performing in The Crucible in the Riverbank in 2005 was the last time she was on stage. "I stopped when I was in college and later I began working full time."

Sinead has been a regular in the audience at plays by Kilcullen Drama Group down the years — her husband Andrew is the grandson of Harry Clarke, of the Clarke family in Kilcullen who have also been involved with the group for generations. "So I'd have been familiar with Kilcullen drama in the years when Bernard Berney and Dick Dunphy were very much involved."

Sinead's son Conor was born around the time of the group's last presentation, Jimmy Keary's The Two Loves of Gabriel Foley, and while on maternity leave she thought she'd like to have another go on the boards. "I mentioned it to Joan Murphy and Vivian Clarke, and then director Eilish Phillips offered me the part in this one, which is a sequel, and here I am."

Sinead is playing the part of Crispin Tweed, the counsellor who is trying to help Gabriel Foley, now married, with some relationship issues. "It was a bit intimidating going back after so long, but it has been really fun and I'm truly enjoying it. Everybody has been really welcoming and encouraging, and there's a lovely spirit in the group — everybody pitches in and there's great laughter and great camaraderie."

The attraction of acting to her is the work of interpreting a character provided by the author of a play. "The writer gives you the words, and Jimmy Keary has provided a good idea of what the character Crispin Tweed is like. But then you have a level of flexibility to take the character where you can, with your voice, with your body language. It's a creativity that gives you the ability to explore a bit on the stage and see where it goes."

For Better, For Worse, opens tomorrow night, Tuesday 22 November. If you want to see where Crispin Tweed and the other characters go, book at Berney's Chemists, 045 481497.

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