RAWHIDE, Rehearsing Danti-Dan.

It's always nice to go behind the scenes. Be it on a big Hollywood blockbuster or when VH1 did Behind the music(Those were the days) or even if it's your local production company getting a play ready for the Abbey Hall stage.
We've been working on this comedy from writer Gina Moxley who we've been told is an absolute legend and from what we've seen in the script it's obvious she is. She also has fantastic taste in the tunes from the class soundtrack she picked out, which she herself described as fab.

Here's the full cast rehearsing the hell out of it, with a pic taken by our fab producer Shannon Keegan, also if you look closely you can see everyone's favorite sound man Gary McDonald. Fun fact if you are ever out with this man don't leave your shoes around him, cause he will use them as a musical instrument.
With Danti-Dan we have Spark regulars Thomas Drennan(Brownbread), Aine Ryan(Bittersweet Graffiti) and Adrian Kavanagh(Everything bar Bunny) who is also directing the piece and not writing this blog. But we also have two newcomers to the show in the cast by the names of Keleigh Drea, and yes it is with an 'E' and Sinead Hayes and yes she is adorable.

(Thomas as Dan & Sinead as Cactus)

From our last two shows we had been to Barrytown and we've been to Luton but this time we wanted something more rural and more closer to our home. Something we could recognize and have a lot of fun with at the same time, and Danti-Dan was perfect. As Gina Moxley saids 'Danti-Dan is set in the middle of nowhere but that nowhere is Cork'. Dialogue is obviously important but we were absolutely amazed how much more the show came to life when we started acting with our Cork accents, it really brought another level to the play, another level of comedy. Yea sure we could have set in Graig and said nothing, but who doesn't love Cork, right?

So the story is about a group of young teenagers in the summer in the 70's in rural Cork. And really that's all that needs to be said. But we can tell you this, they are promiscuous and they are at an age where they want to know all about the birds and the bees. All the while Dan who has a mental age of 8 just wants to head off to the Wild West and ride the range.

Danti Dan opens in the Abbey Hall on March 20th and runs for three nights. Tickets are 8 euro and can be booked via 0857191898.

Or if you fancy seeing the show in the Watergate on March 29th then booking can be done via watergatetheatre.com and tickets are 10 Euro.

Note: Strong Language and Sexual References Used Throughout.

Project Y.E.S, Kicks off. YES!!!

Tomorrow we can say that Project Y.E.S really kicks off and we are very excited by this opportunity that we have been giving. January has been one hell of a month of meetings, emails, and generally getting organised for the coming months, that is going to be one hell of a roller-coaster ride.

So what is Project Y.E.S? 

Over one year ago, we began working with the Kilkenny Leader Partnership on Y.E.S(Youngsters on the European Stage Initiative) and the idea was that working with Leader and our friends over in Devious Theatre we would work on setting up the first rural theatre group in Kilkenny which is now known as Spark Youth Productions.

This project would be managed and delivered by two fine gents by the names of John Morton & Ken McGuire.

This project isn't just about us setting up a youth theatre this is about training and mentorship and further development of the work Spark Productions has been doing for over two years. We are not just here to entertain we believe, we are also here to help develop the arts in our fine home of Graiguenamangh.

Over the coming months there will be workshops in acting and technical theatre. There is no denying that Graiguenamangh and the surrounding areas is full of great talent and potential, all it needs is a platform, a platform which we are doing our best to provide.

The next show we will be hitting the stage with is a great comedy by Gina Moxley called Danti-Dan. A comedy about a group of teenagers in rural cork & learning about growing  up and the birds and the bees, Devious will be mentoring us on this, to help deliver what we hope/believe will be our best production yet.

Danti-Dan hits the Abbey Hall stage on March 20th to 22nd and then we return to our home away from home the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny on March 29th. Danti-Dan sees veterans such as Aine Ryan, Thomas Drennan & Adrian Kavanagh return to the stage. We are also delighted to have newcomers Sinead Hayes & Keleigh Drea working on this production, they've brought some fresh air and some great cork accents to the show. We also have a great crew, with Shannon Keegan as the assistant producer, Maree Moloney on costumes and Aoife Jordan and Brian O'Neil on photography and of course Gary McDonald returns to work his magic on the sound.

All in all, it's a very exciting year and who know what may come out of it, and that's the most exciting part.

Tickets are 8 euro and can be booked by phoning 085-7191898 for Abbey Hall.

Tickets are 10 euro for the Watergate theatre and can be booked via 056-7761674.

Note: Strong language and sexual references used throughout.