Spark Productions

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Julie Ralph talks Bittersweet.

When adrian approached me about helping him find actors for a mysterious production I was more than happy to help and put my own name forward staight away, as I always had a liking for theatre and I felt this will ignite the flame...

So one fine summers day I found myself standing in the duiske in front of 3 people who were clearly having the time of their lives, it then hit me this could be fun :) two months later 'One for the Road' was under way and I was Katy.. A character that surprisingly suited me... Shortly after 'One for the Road' was done I got a lovely phonecall from Adrian, wondering if I'd like to be one of the Producers for 'BitterSweet Graffiti' I obliged not really knowing what I was getting myself in for..

The transition from acting to producing was strange but as it got closer to casting actors I found myself settle into the role (getting used to the'did I catch you at a bad time' phonecalls) before I knew it rehearsals had started and things began to take shape!! With BitterSweet Graffiti now only one week away, I can honestly say I much prefer the work behind the scenes although it can be stressful..

But with the help of Una Dalton I've managed to keep my wits about me and look forward to seeing all the hard work pay off.. BitterSweet Graffiti has a wonderful youthful talented cast, a spectacular writer and a backroom team to beat the Band.. Spark Productions is a force to be reckoned with, great ideas for the future and a family that just keeps Growing. Its safe to say I'm proud to be a Spark ;) Its a show not to be missed .... So get booking your tickets !!!!

We are not long left now until opening night!Only nine days to be precise!So there's going to be serious work done in these next few days to get everything in tip top shape!

'BitterSweet Graffiti' runs in the Abbey Hall Graiguenamanagh Co.Kilkenny for four nights April 5th to 8th.

Opening night tickets are 5 euro.

Friday to Sunday tickets are 10 euro.

7 euro tickets available for Students,O.A.P's and social welfare recipients.

Ticket Bookings on 087-9439979.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' is Written and Directed by Adrian Kavanagh.

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

All Photography by David Ryan.

Or on the twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Sparkstheatre

Or for more details on 'BitterSweet Graffiti': http://www.facebook.com/events/179524322161189/

Thursday, 15 March 2012

The Day we Did The Poster Shoot!

The day we did the poster shoot was a lot of fun.And their was a couple of Graiguenamanagh locals thinking to themselves 'what the fuck is happening here?'.

Above you can see Nicola Whitty doing her best playboy shoot impression.

Nicola Whitty plays 'Caoimhe' in 'BitterSweet Graffiti', 'Caoimhe' is not as seductive as this in 'BitterSweet Graffiti'.

Nicola Whitty made her stage debut with us as 'Drunk girl number 2' in 'One For The Road'

When not acting she spends her time going to college and serving up the finest rolls a man could ever eat.

She may also text you saying that 'She Love's you'....it's all lies.

Here we see Adrian Kavanagh and Nicola Whittly having the lols and the bants in good old fashion by the boathouse.

Adrian Kavangh was unsure whether they were doing 'L' for Love or 'L' for Loser.He went along with it anyway.

Aine Ryan pictured above looking all sweet and innocent...she's anything but...joke.She's lovely!

Aine Ryan play's 'Adoria in 'BitterSweet Graffiti' and instead of going to classes in college she now spends her time waiting in the library and sneaking up behind every Spanish student she finds,bringing them off and making them help her get her Spanish down to a tee.

You could say describe Aine Ryan in many ways...but one thing she sure is..is committed.

What a smile!Matthew Murphy who appears as 'Kieran' in 'BitterSweet Graffiti' makes his debut with 'Spark Productions'.We consider him the 'Demba Ba' of theatre.

When not acting he likes to swim and impress the ladies with his rowing skills.

He also plays guitar with his ultimate party band 'Shift the couch'.

He also went to America once and met a lovely cheerleader,they shifted once and haven't skyped since.Long distance never works out.

To finish this blog off, here we have 'The Girl In The Yellow Aran Jumper' played by Aine Maher.

Aine Maher is also making her debut with 'Spark Productions and appears to be loving it so far.

When not acting she can be found serving cocktails...she makes a mean cocktail.

She also likes to dance and sing in her car when nobody is watching.She can also do a great impression of Adrian Kavanagh.

There is a few more characters to unveil yet but we are saving that for another time.We fear the blog may explode due to an overwhelming amount of sexiness.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' runs in the Abbey Hall Graiguenamanagh Co.Kilkenny for four nights April 5th to 8th.

Opening night tickets are 5 euro.

Friday to Sunday tickets are 10 euro.

7 euro tickets available for Students,O.A.P's and social welfare recipients.

Ticket Bookings on 087-9439979.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' is Written and Directed by Adrian Kavanagh.

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

All Photography by David Ryan.

Or on the twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Sparkstheatre

Or for more details on 'BitterSweet Graffiti': http://www.facebook.com/events/179524322161189/

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Caoimhe,Charlie and 'the girl in the yellow aran jumper'.

Here it is!Poster number two for 'BitterSweet Graffiti'.

We will be unleashing the final poster for the show soon,but let's talk about that just yet!

It's time for us to introduce to you some more of the characters!

From Left to Right!

Caoimhe, Just back interailing for the summer,she has her heart set on having a few pints by the fire in O'Sheas. And while she swears she didn't get with any baguettes on her travels, someone definitely has an eye on her, and she has her eye on someone too.'Caoimhe' is played by Nicola Whitty who last appeared for us in 'One For The Road' as 'Drunk girl number two'.She misses that character..a lot.

Charlie, The oldest of the gang,spends his days working in the second hand bookshop, dreaming about 'The Girl In The Yellow Aran Jumper' whom he met once and has been besotted ever since.'Charlie' is played by Adrian Kavanagh who last appeared for us as 'Daniel' in 'One For The Road'.He is also writer and directer and funnily enough he looks quite similar to that 'Adrian Dawson' fella who wrote and directed 'One For The Road'.He fucked off with a bag of cash and hasn't been seen since.

'The Girl In The Yellow Aran Jumper', The object of Charlie's affection.She's a cool and colorful girl and is about to arrive in Graiguenamangh to help out with the ceili,and see these Spanish girls in action.'G.I.Y.A.J' is played by Aine Maher who makes her 'Spark' debut with us.She's loves being the 'G.I.Y.A.J'.

Opening night tickets are going fast,so if you want the cheap tickets then book them fast!There's only three weeks left at the most until opening night.And with time moving fast,it's going to be a hectic few weeks in the 'Spark Productions' office....There will be diet coke by the barrowful.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' runs in the Abbey Hall Graiguenamanagh Co.Kilkenny from April 5th to April 8th.

Doors are half seven,and the show is 8:00.

Tickets have now gone on sale and can be booked by phoning 087-9439979.

Opening night tickets are 5 euro. Friday to Sunday tickets are 10 euro but 7 euro tickets can be availed of if you are an O.A.P, student or have a social welfare card.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' is written and directed by Adrian Kavanagh.

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

BitterSweet Tickets.

We've got tickets.

Tickets have just gone on sale for 'BitterSweet Graffiti' and here they are,have a look,ain't they lovely.

And spent her time with the scalpel in her lamh carefully cutting them out.

Ticket sales are picking up nicely with the opening night 5 euro tickets leading the way,so it's recommended that you book your's early.

We're only four weeks left until opening night so there's going to be a lot of work going on in the Spark Productions headquarters so there will be a lot of fags smoked, tea drank, all round banter and plenty of diet coke to boot.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' Runs April 5th to 8th, in the Abbey Hall Graiguenamanagh Co.Kilkenny.

Opening Night Tickets are 5 Euro.

Friday to Sunday Tickets are 10 Euro.

7 Euro Tickets can be availed of if you are a Student, O.A.P or have a social welfare card.

Ticket Booking by 087-9439979

Starring Ben Clifford, Donna Doyle, Adrian Kavanagh, Aine Maher, Matthew Murphy, Aine Ryan, Megan Stacey and Nicola Whitty.

Written And Directed by Adrian Kavanagh

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Kieran, Adoria and Rob.

Well this is it. The first of our main posters for 'BitterSweet Graffiti'.

As you can tell David Ryan has done a top notch job designing our posters and he has a few tricks left his sleeve.

The poster itself was shot on location at the actual boathouse.

It was a cold day and Aine Ryan felt it but being the professional she is,she took it in her stride.

But Allow us to introduce the characters.

From left to right.

Kieran, The enviromental loving, babhran playing hopelessly in love with Adoria played by Matthew Murphy.

Adoria, The sweet Spanish girl trying to learn English and at the same time trying to figure out what a debs is played by Aine Ryan.

Rob, an obnoxious tough guy who believes he know's how to keep the ladies sweet played by Shane Pearson.

Apart from Aine Ryan who last appeared in 'One For The Road', Shane and Matthew make their stage debut with Spark Productions.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' runs in the Abbey Hall Graiguenamanagh Co.Kilkenny from April 5th to April 8th.

Tickets have now gone on sale and can be booked by phoning 087-9439979.

Opening night tickets are 5 euro. Friday to Sunday tickets are 10 euro but 7 euro tickets can be availed of if you are an O.A.P, student or have a social welfare card.

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Graffiti Hall..

We are now just at the halfway point for rehearsals and the show is really starting to come together.

It's been some long hours, but the cast and crew have been putting in a top notch effort,just so they can entertain everyone and hopefully get some shifts.

'One For The Road' which appeared in The Duiske Inn last August found us rehearsing and putting a show in somewhere that could feel quite intimate.We also really enjoyed the fact that the show itself was set in a bar so when we asked ourselves where we could do it?Where better than a bar itself.

This time around, everything has changed and we say everything has changed we mean everything!

Last time found us performing a show, literally right in front of people. This time we are getting used to having a stage and a larger area to work with.

At this point you may have guessed that the show will be performed in The Hall in Graiguenamanagh, and we love it. I believe we will be the first show in there to reopen this building full of stories about discos, drink, dances, boyzone and Ray Darcy.

Having a stage really does but us in a whole new scenario, and the cast have realized this. Although we have a large area to work with, we still plan on creating a very intimate show. Like our last show which seated approximately seventy people a night, we are going to be doing the same with this one.

There's only at most five weeks to opening so we will be hitting the ground running from March on-wards. Tickets are set to go on sale soon...very soon. And their may be some deals on those bad boys if you catch them early.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' comes to the Hall in Graiguenamanagh April 5,6,7 and 8.

Written and Directed By Adrian Kavanagh.

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

All Photography by David Ryan.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' comes to Graiguenamanagh for a limited run with limited seating.

Also on the twitter @sparkstheater.

Thursday, 23 February 2012

August and Everything After.

We are nearing the end of February and at the same time we are reaching the halfway point for rehearsals. And as I can't say much about that end of things, I can say that I am happy.The cast are putting in a top notch job developing their characters and are working hard. Coming to rehearsals in between college,work and telling their other halves they can't get the shift tonight because they have to rehearse.

But we can now at his point tell you a little bit more about the show. Firstly it's set over the month of August by the boathouse. A place where many drinks have been consumed and shifts had. Many a man from Graiguenamanagh could tell you stories of romantic first kisses by this wall looking out to the river.

They could also probably tell you a few stories about drunken nights where a few of the auld extra safe, pictured above would have come in handy.

I suppose for any post leaving cert,the toughest month for them would have to be August. The C.A.O results are approaching, they could possibly be saying goodbye to their friends as they head off on their separate ways and at the same time they are all getting excited for the biggest night of the year...the debs.

The debs in Graig has become legendary with drama, fights, sex in toilets and such, but they are no doubt a great night.

The debs is also the night where a lot of couples plan on it being their first time, but your probably better off not planning anything at all, after all it may not go the way you want. It more than likely won't.

At the same time this August there is a ceili planned for some lovely Spanish girls that have arrived in Graiguenamanagh and some of the characters have literally falling over by the sight of the them.

And that's all we have to tell you for now.

'BitterSweet Graffiti' comes to Graiguenamanagh April 5,6,7 and 8th and there will be limited seating.

Written and Directed by Adrian Kavanagh.

Produced by Julie Ralph and Una Dalton.

This show contains strong language.