So its been a while, but time flies when you’re having fun.. I had the pleasure of attending a performing of Stagemad Theatre’s “All Fall Down” as part of Waterford’s Imagine Arts Festival. Written by Ciaran Murphy and directed by James Power, this one act play starred Bríd Power and Brian Coady. A Q&A with the writer and director was held after the performance.

The play examines the relationship between a brother and sister, where the sister has taken on the role of carer for her blind brother. Set in a post Celtic Tiger rural Ireland, we quickly see the strain of the relationship brought on by both the circumstances of the siblings and the lack of state support for carers in Ireland.

While only 50 minutes in duration, it’s a very powerful piece. The performances were excellent and as an audience member you could feel the anger and sadness emerging in the narrative. While watching the play, I couldn’t help but not think of the in Wexford from a few years ago.

I found the play deeply moving and it stuck with me afterward. And to quote Murphy from the Q&A, “you have to tell a lie to tell the truth”. This is a story that has to be told. There are major issues with the lack of appropriate state support for carers and the with mental health overall in Ireland. While this harrowing tale is a work of fiction, there’s no doubt that similar situations are playing out in real life all over Ireland every day. I only wish that Stagemad could bring this show to other venues throughout Ireland.

Stagemad have a philosophy of creating opportunities for local talent. Many of their past productions were written by local playwrights. A very popular group in Waterford, it’s very clear that we need more groups like Stagemad in Ireland.

Stagemad’s next production, “Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun” will be staged in Garter Lane Theatre from Wednesday 23rd to 26th November. Tickets are available on the Garter Lane website.

www.stagemad.ie

So why do people join drama groups and what do they get out of it? With No Drama Theatre, we have found members have
joined for many reasons such as;

• A desire to act
• To improve performing skills
• To work behind the scenes
• A social outlet
• A combination of the above

However whether immediately realised or
not, members have given us feedback that being part of the group
has also given:

• Boosted confidence and self esteem in other aspects of life
• Great understanding of staging a production and
being involved in one
• Improved their communication skills including active listening
• Developed both teamwork skills and the
ability to work on initiative
• Introduced them to new and cool friends!

What many people have said is that all of this is achieved through a fun and welcoming environment and because we run workshops twice weekly, personal development is in constant focus.
So this brings us back to the why you might be thinking of joining
a drama group, be it No Drama Theatre or
another group. I often hear from people or read on messages boards,
people asking how they can get involved in drama groups and get to
act on stage. The most common reply is, “Do as many auditions with
as many groups as you can”. I personally believe that this is not
always the best of advice. Why is this? Well remember what I said
earlier about the key factors that contribute to a drama group’s
success? The importance of teamwork, trust and
commitment. Your first step should be to join a drama
group! Many groups are weary of people who only seem to appear
around audition periods as it raises a question mark over
commitment to the group. The director of a play will always want
the best performer for a role, but he/she also needs to consider
how the individual will mix with other performers and crew. Will an
actor be on time, flexible and committed to the role? No different
to a job interview, you can’t convey this in a short audition.
However by getting involved in a group, attending workshops,
helping out backstage when you are not cast in show, it all adds to
the teamwork and spirit of the group. One of No
Drama’s longest members, Tom, once said to me over a
pint, that when he was cast in his first play with the group, he
was blown away by the commitment and effort put in by the
production crew in bring the play to the stage. When it came to the
auditions for our next play, Tom wasn’t available to audition and
was due to be on holiday before the play would be staged. However
Tom felt that it was important to fly home in time for the
production to help out backstage when the play was running, to give
back to other people what he had received when he was on stage.
This kind of action captures the spirit of what No Drama
Theatre and many other drama groups around the country
are all about. It also helped boost Tom’s director’s and producer’s
knowledge of Tom’s abilities and capabilities.

What Can I Expect When I Walk In The Door?
Joining a drama group can be scary. Many people have experienced joining a
group only to find its very clicky or difficult to get accepted
into the core group. With No Drama Theatre we
strive to eliminate the “eliteness” often associated with drama
groups and offer a level playing field for everyone. However all
the positively affirming written words in the world doesn’t smash
those nerves of walking in the door for the first time! But that’s
all it takes, a first step. Remember everyone in the group had a
first class/workshop at some stage. Have a chat to members, new and
old. You’ll find that many people will have had similar reasons to
you for joining. And finally and most importantly enjoy it!
Workshops are very important to developing your performing skills.
If you aren’t doing formal training with a professional school,
acting in plays alone won’t develop your skills to the extent you
may think. I have had feedback from members who have said that the
confidence and skills learned in our workshops have helped them get
cast in plays/TV shows/films outside of No
Drama. One of our member commented on an audition
outside of No Drama, for a web series,
The Covies, where the majority of the audition
was to be improvised. He told me that had it not being for the
improvisation exercises and workshops he had attended with
No Drama, he would not have been prepared for
the audition. He got the part too. That’s just one simple example
of how beneficial workshops are if you want to develop your skills
further. So to close out, if you want to join a drama group?
Go for it!

Because we maintain an open door policy in our community, the size of our group is ever-changing. However, we do have a fixed group of around 15 adults and two children. At the time of writing we have six guests, some of whom will be staying for a longer time, while the rest are here temporarily.

Hippies?

Ok maybe not. But more of that later. Why am I talking about Osho?

A friend of No Drama, John Loftus of Choke Improv talked me into attending a Improvisation Comedy Festival in the UK, facilitated by John Cremer and the award winning Maydays. I had only heard good things about John Cremer but had never even seen a picture of the man.

I talked Brian Quinn of No Drama into coming along so John L. took care of the arrangements. It was after the arrangements were made, John fillled me in on the logistics of the weekend. Namely the “hippy” bit. A weekend in a caravan with no meat served in the restaurant lay in store. I had no sandals to bring with me.

We were due to fly to Bristol on Friday 24th on an afternoon flight with Ryanair. Things got off to a bad start when our flight was delayed for nearly 6 hours resulting in an arrival in Bristol of approx 1:10am rather than the scheduled 6:20pm. The fun didnt end then, we had a 90 minute drive ahead of us to the secluded countryside location in Gillingham. (No, not the one in Kent. The other one)

Sandals
It was cold. And the caravan was cosy thanks to John L. pre heating our rooms with the portable heaters. (John arrived earlier that day as he was flying from Knock). I always knew John was a mammy at heart.

Fortunately we didn’t miss any workshops with our late arrival. Friday evening was more a meet and greet occasion over dinner. The fun and games was scheduled to kick off at 8:30am with breakfast with workshops from 9:30am. I had a whopping 4 hours sleep to look forward to.

I’m not a morning person, and I never will be. I feel no shame for that. But some people just don’t get those of us who are not morning people. There is nothing wrong with me. I dont need a dose of sunshine stuck up my arse in the morning. I just need, space, time and tea.

So you can imagine my anxiety when at 9:30am we conjugate in the main hall and a DJ starts playing dance music while waiting for John Cremer to kick off the proceedings. I kid you not, lots of people started dancing. Some of the girls formed lines and danced in sync. Even John L. started dancing. It was surreal, at that hour of the morning. Taking in the sight, there was about 40-50 people there, a wide mix of ages and an even 50/50 split gender wise. Oh and we had to take off our shoes. But that was ok. My socks had no holes.

It was at this point I was first introduced to the talent of the Maydays. John Cremer took the stage and kicked things off. His first point was to officially welcome myself and Brian. He asked me to tell the group a bit about the ordeal of the journey we had. So I did. The second the story finished, the keyboard player kicked off and John C. informed the room that it sounded like we had the Aviation Blues.

The Maydays got stuck into 12 bar blues with some musical improv influenced by my story. There was no hesitation on their part, no confusion over who had to sing the next part. It all sounded rehearsed and scripted. It was amazing.

Improv Everywhere
For the duration of the day, there was a choice of between 3 and 4 workshops to chose from. It was a bit like being in college again with the class and room schedule handed to everyone. I decided to spend my morning in two Long Form workshops.

The long form exercises and games were lots of fun. Our improv shows as part of Laughalot focus on short form improv but in our workshops in Dublin, we would perform long form sketches and exercises. But we hadnt performed long form in front of an audience yet.

The long form workshops pulled a crowd. But the standard of improv was high. It was interesting and a challenge to work with competent performers that I had never met before. It didnt feel like a competitive environment. There was great support and encouragement from the tutors. After about 3 hours of long form it was time for lunch.

Organic Noms
The folk running Osho are quite the organic type. The lunch was home made, home grown. There was soup, delicious bread and salad on offer. And tea. Its very important to emphasise that there was an abundance of all sorts of teas and tea breaks throughout the weekend. I loved that about Osho. An appreciation of tea.

Mainland
Some lunchtime conversations ensued. I must point out before I go on, that I’m crap at remembering names. So if I talk about someone from here on and don’t mention his or her name, its because I cant remember it. And I was probably told it. More than once.

A lovely lady from England, joined myself, Brian, John L and John C at a picnic bench in the gardens. She asked us about No Drama and what we did in Dublin. Then this happened:

Nice Lady: “So why don’t you come put on a show on the mainland?”

She was oblivious to what she had said. Now, it didn’t offend anyone and we laughed. But it was amusing as to her bewilderment as to what the issue was. John C. explained what she had said. She still didn’t get it. So we called her a European. We knew she wouldn’t like that!

I got talking to one of the residents of Leela over lunch too. A very happy and joyous man. While he at first might come across a bit odd, I realised while talking to him that he was very much happy in his own skin. He was very happy in life but spoke of wanting to hear negativity in life so that he could bring balance to it. Still, I didnt bother him with my problems. I didn’t want to turn him into a broken man! My last memory of the conversation is him saying,

“I learnt so much from my mistakes, that I think I will make a few more.”

La la lalala la
I was determined to give it shot. It’s something that we know we need to introduce to the Laughalot shows. When done right, its a hilarious part of a show. When done wrong, its embarrassing, boring and yawn enducing….

Musical Improv! I was terrified. I mean, I have had two motorcycles accidents in recent years yet I was more terrified of doing some musical improv. However the tutors were very supportive and encouraging. But lets be honest, there was no denying that I was going to have to sing at some stage. Improvised singing. But I did. I was sweating buckets and in need of an AED by the end of the session but I did it. As did Brian. And the scary part? It was great fun and we wanted more!

After a break, I was in two minds what to do next. Brian went to a character development workshop but I decided that I couldnt let the weekend go by without doing some short form improv. I figured it would be a nice way to wind down the day.

Of course, I had forgotten that short form improv can be intense, laugh-a-minute and extremely draining. So after a fun packed 90 minutes, I was fit for bed!

The day’s workshops were over and the evening’s entertainment was due to begin. Dinner first (a tasty Indian vegetarian curry with naan.) followed by some shows.

Look into my eyes…
First up some stage hypnosis. Make what you will of that. Entertaining but surely you can’t hyponotise people that fast? Well she did, and thankfully didnt resort to hypnotising people into thinking chairs were sexy or anything like that.

Next up was the Osho Leela inhouse Improv troupe. A quick 20 minute set and some good short form improv demonstrated with some challenging games.

And the grand finale, The Maydays performing some long form improv – musical numbers and all! It was easy to see why The Maydays have won awards. It was like watching a scripted, rehearsed show. It was hilarious with a story told from start to finish. The songs had a rehearsed feel to them and really brought the scenes to a new level.

After the Maydays performed the room was converted into a nightclub setting and the bar opened. Myself and a few others had a peak into the “Theatre Costume Room” (how cool is that!) and picked out some appropriate outfits for the occasion.

Much banter and craic was had over the rest of the night. Most importantly, we introduced the words “gee” and “gawl” into the English folk’s vocabulary. While I can’t remember everyone’s name that I bent the ear off, interogated with questions and probed with deliberatly leading sexist enquiries, I will give special mention to Meg, Aine, Sam, “B”, Maureen, Gillis, Jason, Flora, Carrie, Andy (and the other folk whose names escape me!) who were good sport and craic for enduring my ramblings! After all that, it was time for bed!

Uh Oh…
The cold of the night tooks its toll and I was awoke Sunday morning, after a poor night’s rest with a sore throat and flu symptoms. I knew another music workshop wouldnt be a runner today but I did take part in a workshop on “Object and Environment”.

Unfortunately for myself and Brian, that is where our Osho adventure had to end as we had a flight home to catch. We had to sacrifice on another 2 workshops as a result but we still had a fantastic weekend of improv.

I was going to go into detail on some of things we learned and picked up over the weekend but I have decided to keep that under wraps and if you want to find out more, well you will just have to come to one of No Drama’s workshops! (Comedy Improvisation runs every Sunday at 5:30pm and the general workshop runs every Tuesday at 7pm. Both workshops take place in Synge Street Primary school.)

A MASSIVE thanks to John Cremer, The Maydays for putting together an excellent weekend. Also huge thanks to the good people at Leela for looking after us and getting involved in the improv! It was a great weekend with new friends made and awesome improv performed!

For more info on John Cremer and The Maydays see below.

http://www.johncremer.co.uk/

http://www.themaydays.co.uk/

For more info on Osho Leela, check out their website below.

http://www.osholeela.co.uk/

Want to try some improv or theatre with No Drama Theatre? Check out our website for more info:

http://nodramatheatre.com/

So you may have read a previous blog post about No Drama Theatre’s Improv shows (Previously called Improvlova) or perhaps you have attended one of our shows (and hopefully had a good time!). We recently rebranded the improv show to Laughalot Improv to coincide with the launch of our regular monthly show in The Duke pub in Dublin. Serious business then? So how did it come about and what the hell is a theatre group doing improv comedy for?

For those of you who have no idea what Im talking about, improv comedy is comedy improvisation. Its unrehearsed, unscripted and with many of the games peformed, influenced based on suggestions from the audience. The result, when done right, should be a performance of sharp wit with hilarious scenarios. If done wrong, tumbleweeds, boos and tuts from the audience. If done very well, be prepared for accusations of having rehearsed or prepared already! (Some of the episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” are so funny, they often look rehearsed!)

I’ve always loved improvised comedy. About 18 months ago, I thought it would be fun to organise a night of improv comedy as a fundraiser for the group. We were quite nervous on the night, a few drinks were consumsed for Dutch courage and the adrenalin was pumping. The first show was in Cassidy’s bar on Westmoreland St in Dublin. It was a massive success. I judge success based on the feedback of audience members present with no affiliation with the group. It proved to be quite inspiring! So we proceeded to organise some more shows, at random all of which were received well with a great turnout.

Earlier this year I figured that the improv show was something that could be turned from a fundraiser to a viable arm of No Drama Theatre. There was a demand among members for improv and for the chance to perform on stage. There are of course other improv comedy groups in Dublin but for new people wanting to get involved, it can prove very difficult as the improv groups are a tight knit unit.

I attended other improv shows this year to see how the competition faired. Choke Comedy Improv in Limerick and the Craic Pack group in Dublin. Both groups were excellent and each had their own slant with their improv shows. I chatted to one of the founders of Craic Pack after one show, the talented Peter O’Byrne.

Peter is no stranger to comedy. He has been performing with Craic Pack for many years since its founding and also frequents the stand up scene. When not on stage, he can also be found on the TV from time to time. Peter also runs Introductionary courses to Comedy Improv.

Knowing that it was time for us to invest seriously in our improv and up our game, I invited Peter to run some improv workshops for No Drama. They were a roaring success. He’s an excellent tutor and those of us who perform in the improv show benefited greatly from his tutorage.

Our improv shows in the Duke now have a more structured and confident edge. We ban performers taking alcohol before and during the show. We have call times and a 1 hour warm up before each show. We also have “rehearsals” the week of the show.

“Rehearsals” I hear you say? Well, its not a rehearsal as such but an improv fresher. We’ve learnt that being funny has very little to do with successful improv. It takes good teamwork and going with what you are presented with on stage. It is in fact, a mindset. Improv goes against the grain of how we were reared to live our lives. Therefore in our rehearsal class, we spend the time carrying out improv exercises that have little to do with humour and everything to do with getting in the mindset. It makes a massive difference to our performance on the night of a show.

I never tire of improv. Every show brings something different and there is always a few moments of comedy gold in each show. The buzz of hearing the audience laugh and the odd heckle is fantastic.

As the show has become more successful, we now have the additional challenge of ensuring that people dont view No Drama Theatre as a improvisation theatre group. The rebranding and handling of our improv shows and workshops is being kept seperate to our theatre workshops and shows to ensure we keep ourselves focussed. But it has to be said, its alot of fun! Hopefully you will catch one of our shows too!

We all remember that film from 1973. Banned in Ireland from many years due to its content, the film had a stigma attached in many corners, curses, strange things going on set, people dying, and all that hokey pokey good stuff.

The Exorcist is one of my favourite films, something that many friends question. It wasn’t the fact of having studied film in college back in the day or written a piece about what the film represents as a piece of art that drew me to it. It was the fact that when I saw it, 16 years of age, it scared the pants off me. For the 122 minutes the film displayed on my TV, I was glued to my seat in a lather of sweat and white knuckles. I was alive for those 2 hours and William Friedkin ensured that I would remember that film for a long time.

Nowadays, with our desensitised view of the world the film is somewhat dated, as horror films have been permitted by censors to be more shocking that they were in the 70′s and of course, the film has been imitated and parodied regularly. But never recreated. Even John Boorman couldn’t bring his charm to it’s sequel (and interestinly enough, Boorman apparantely turned down the chance to direct the first film, as the story goes, because it was a nasty piece of work). The original novel’s writer, William Peter Blatty, tried his hand at directing the third film, which focussed moreso on a spate of killings with satanic overtones. While the film had its moments, it wasn’t a patch on the original. I’m not going to mention the 2 prequels at this point.

Cut to today, Eric asked me if I could help out with some of the logistically elements of the film so with my background in No Drama Theatre, I set about sourcing potential actors that would potentially meet his criteria. The film will centre around an exorcism of an Irish girl but rather than focus on the horror of the piece, the film will focus on the psychological aspect. A good decision in my opinion.

As part of my research for the project, I read a number of modern non fiction books on the subject material; The Rite; The Dark Sacrement and Hostage Of The Devil. The books brought me into a world that I have to admit, should really only reside on the top shelf of the horror section down at your local Xtravision. The books were fascinated but equally frightening. Unlike Friedkin’s movie, the books didn’t offer tales of spinning heads, mass disfigurations or mutations but instead offered an insight into the modern Catholic Church that appears to have been brushed under the carpet for a long time. But books are books so the production team set out to meet with Ireland’s leading Exorcist. A priest named Father Pat Collins. Fr. Collins was difficult to track down but he did agree to meet with the team and share his insight into his world. Fr. Collin’s tales and explanation as to what happens during an exorcism would make the hairs stand up on your neck. His stories mirrored many of the stories we read about in the books. He wasn’t a troubled man, he came across as a very strong man mentally and spiritually. Perhaps his experiences, as nasty as some of them were, offered him a renewed sense of faith. As William Peter Blatty once said, “God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.”

I should point out that Fr. Collins did not object to the project nor try dissuade the project from proceeding. He did however warn the team to thread carefully. Almost like your mother telling you to look in both directions before crossing the road. One thing that the research has shown is that the subject matter is distressing and regardless of what anyone’s religious beliefs are, it’s not a pleasant topic in any shape or form.

But the show must go on. Eric and his screen writer, Martin Robinson, are pressing ahead with writing the story and almost a whole production team is now in place. Some actors have been already been cast and there is a sense of excitment already building. Eric plans on showcasing the film in the film festivals, similar to Seer, and hopefully a distributor will pick up film at that point.

The film is yet untitled and shooting is planned for early summer. I hope to blog about it more as things move along.

Oh and to pre-empt the question that is always asked when movies like this are being made, “has anything strange happened yet?” Yes it has. But you’re not really going to believe me, are you?

You can get your fix of No Drama merchanise by visiting:

As some of you remember, No Drama Theatre staged our first ‘major’ production back in May. It comprised of two One Acts, Tales From The Fairground, and the main event, Night At The Invasion. The latter of course being the piece where I played the character, Col. Hazelby. Our esteemed director of Invasion, Barry O’Donovan, had his work cut out for him. Given he had written the play, it put him under increased pressure as it was his work being staged afterall.

We had a cast member pull out half way through production, many re-writes and an enormous amount of rehearsal time (5 months), which was due to the lack of funds available to us in the early days to put us in a position to put the play on. While the end result was something to be proud of, no one will deny the struggle we had putting the whole thing together. Directing seemed like a role best left for the foolish.

I’m some fool it seems. No Drama is staging Charles Dyer’s excellent farcical murder mystery chiller, Wanted – One Body! in January and muggins here is directing. Why I’m directing instead of acting is a long story (I did set up the group because I wanted to direct) but when I took the reigns I decided that a major battle plan was needed. Afterall the play is 2 hours long. It seems we are doing another “first major” production and stage time is less than 8 weeks away…

Fortunately the passion and committment of the No Drama members has been fantastic. I have a co-director in Noel Murphy. And I have a Stage Manager and Production Manager in Darragh Beirne and Cat O’Sullivan. Most amateur drama groups struggle organising a backstage and production team. Working with Darragh and Cat we have a team of almost 12 people. Friends in the theatre world have commented on how lucky we are to have such a large committed team. It seems its something that only the professional world has the privilege of having. And I must add, that no one is getting any form of payment to be involved in the production.

I’m very impressed by my cast of 9 people. Some of them have never graced a stage before. All of them have shown massive dedication. Everyone learnt their lines for Act 1, as requested, before the first rehearsal. In the next few days, we are starting to do full run throughs of the play. It is being staged in The Teachers Club on Parnell Square from January 20th to 23rd.

My stress levels are 90. Yes, I admit it. Despite how organised things are, it impossible not to be anxious. During some rehearsals, it has taken us 30 minutes to get a snippet of a scene of 1 minute nailed. There is so much going on in the play be it dialogue, visual or General Comedy Business (as we have kindly christianed it!)

But despite my blood pressure, I’m very excited and privileged to be doing this. I don’t see myself wanted to direct again for some time (I prefer to be performing!) but I know I benefit greatly from this experience.

Big thanks though goes to James Power of Stagemad Theatre and Jason Gill of Athlone Little Theatre. While they probably don’t realise it, they have been acting as my mentors on occasion over the past weeks. Without it, I’d be a raging alcoholic by now!

The above poster is a draft and not the final product. Wanted – One Body! was written by Charles Dyer. This amateur production is performed by arrangement with Josef Weinberg Ltd

So the summer break is over a few weeks now and the committee deliberated over what the next production for No Drama would be. To cut a long story short, we had planned on annoucing our next production on August 18th. However due to the lack of a suitable script, the scramble to find an established play suitable for us, we only annouced the play last week. We have chosen Raymond Dyer’s Wanted – One Body!. We are in the process of securing the rights to perform it later this year.

The play itself is described by the author as being a farcical chiller. I would more call it a murder mystery/comedy/farce/chiller. The play goes from downright hilarious to downright creepy with many a twist throughout. It sends up many of the murder mysteries that were common at that time (the play was first performed in 1961).

The cast if made up of 9 characters and within No Drama, many people have expressed interest in auditioning.

As for directing, myself and one of No Drama’s respected members, Noel Murphy, will be leading the production. We are looking forward to bringing the magic of this play to the stage.

Once rights are secured we are hoping to perform this play in late November or early December.

The photo above was taken at a workshop in Little Theatre where a selection of No Drama Theatre were tutored by the good folk of Athlone Little Theatre.

Last week, before its run in the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, I had the privilege of attending a performance of Lane Productions latest, “The Shawshank Redemption”. Yes that one. Directed by Peter Sheridan and written by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, the run of performances at the Gaiety was the world stage premiere of the Stephen King book.

I went along with an heir of hesitance. Lane Productions in recent years have put on productions that dont appeal to me. I, Keano etc. Im not saying they are poor, Im saying they are just arent my thing.

However my opinion changed after last week’s performance. It was excellent. Many of the actors were hardened established actors, particularly the leads, Kevin Anderson and Reg E. Cathey. (Pictured above)

The set was well thought through and the scene changes handled gracefully. It really was a strong piece of work.

If I was to find a flaw, I would struggle, but I have one, albeit a minor one. The famous scene/image from the movie, of Andy emerging from the sewer and throwing his arms out ala the crucifix does not make it in.

I always felt that the image of Andy emerging Christ like, resurrected and crucified, brought full circle the sub theme of him being a Christ like character. The scene of him winning 12 beers for his jail friends being a crucial scene. Like I said, my flaw, is a minor one. (and for the nitpickers, the scene with Bogs (Joe Hanley) with his armed outstretched under the spotlight did not make up for it!)

All in all, an excellent piece and I look forward to similar productions from Lane.

But a summer break is upon us. What to do during the break?

Some of the group have set up a summer writing group to work on writing plays for our next production. Its open season in that regard really.
Others are going to hire a boat and go sailing together. Is it illegal to sail a boat under the influence of alcohol?

For me though, I have some ideas. I’m hoping to put on some more Improv nights and who knows, maybe tour Ireland or Europe with it? OK may it is just an excuse for a few beers but who’s complaining….?

The group is still open for business though. The forum will still run on boards.ie and the group members will be active. I’m sure a picnic or two will be had, weather permitting.