It’s rare that an amateur drama group brings a production to the stage that requires four actors to play a combined total of 12 characters, that requires role changing and rapid costume swapping onstage, and that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. It’s rare that an amateur group brings a production to the stage that has not often been attempted outside of the professional circuit because of the complexity of the content and performance. But that’s exactly what Kilcullen Drama Group is doing this month with
The Walworth Farce, which runs from 15th to 18th April in Kilcullen Town Hall.
“It may be our most challenging play yet,” says director Eilis Phillips, who was the brainchild of bringing Enda Walsh’s production to the stage in Kilcullen. Walsh wrote The Walworth Farce in 2006, and it was first performed by Druid Theatre Company. It won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe, which helped launch it onto international stages, where its dark humour and inventive theatrical style earned widespread acclaim.
The play is a play-within-a-play style of performance which revolves around three men and how they act out a distorted version of their past on a constant loop, until one day a stranger unexpectedly enters their flat and breaks the routine and their illusion of reality. In the play, we meet Dinny, played by Maurice O’Mahony, the tyrannical father who created the daily routine of the Farce. Dinny forces his two sons to re-enact how they left Ireland many years ago, in a bid to keep his family safe from the horrors of the outside world. Blake, the older of Dinny’s two sons, is played by Allan Clarke. Blake, trapped in his father’s story, plays the most roles within the play, including all the female parts. Sean, the younger son, is played by Adam Treacy and is the only member of the family who can leave their flat every morning to buy the same groceries required for their play. And finally, Hayley, played by Sinead McKenna, is the naïve Tesco cashier who thinks she’s doing a good deed by returning Sean’s shopping bag, but soon finds herself trapped in this nightmare scenario.
The stakes are high in this play, both for the characters and for the four actors with such a high-energy, physical performance. The inclusion of the word “Farce” in the title suggests slapstick comedy, and while there is an element of that style, there are far more layers to this play, with the psychological tension being ramped up from the beginning and an ending that will leave the audience thinking about it for days afterwards.
The Walworth Farce runs in Kilcullen Town Hall from 15th to 18th April and is a production not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now from Woodbine Books and Eventbrite.
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