Entertainment
Comedy Carnival play explores highs and lows of Singlehood
Una McKevitt describes herself as “a bit of a lone wolf” when it comes to making theatre, so it seems only natural that the Dubliner has created the drama Singlehood, which will play Galway’s Town Hall Theatre on next Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25 as part of the Vodafone Comedy Carnival.
As the title suggests, it’s a piece that delves into the lives of singletons to reveal personal stories that are funny, raw and poignant.
“I’d had a lot of relationships over 10 years and hadn’t been single in that time. Coming out of the last one, I started thinking about that,” explains Una of the background to the piece.
That last relationship hadn’t been great for a while, she says, and the notion of singlehood became an increasing preoccupation. Una has a history of creating plays based on real-life stories, so with the help of a friend, she put out a Facebook appeal, asking people to tell their stories about being single.
Initially she cast a friend, a divorcee, to play various roles and she had thought the piece would evolve into a drama of stories from singletons she knew who would perform in it. But there wasn’t enough variety in that, so she teamed up with David Coffey (Dan & Becs, Fade Street) and they interviewed over 50 single men and women aged between 16-60. These were from different backgrounds with different experiences. Singlehood ran at Project Arts Centre as part of the 2012 Dublin Theatre Festival.
Then she started getting actors to perform the stories, and the piece became even livelier, she says.
And it grew still further after she attended the Sugar Club in Leeson Street one night where she saw comedian and singer Aidan Strangeman, who had won the 2014 So You Think You’re Funny Award in Edinburgh. His songs, some of them about online dating, struck a chord and she decided to ask him to become involved.
“They are on the right side of cheeky but they have poignancy to them too,” she says.
Now Singlehood consists of three strands, Una explains.
“There are stories from people we don’t know, there are stories from the cast and there are the songs.”
Direction and use of stage lighting allows the audience to differentiate between the different stories.
The show has a cast of seven actors, including comedians Eric Lalor and PJ Gallagher, as well as one musician.
It’s presented by UMCK productions, the name under which Una operates, although she stresses that she doesn’t have her own theatre company – she can’t afford to. She is a small operation and that works best for her.
“I got into theatre pretty late in 2008 as a mature student, and I didn’t have a big peer group. It was a funny time to be getting into theatre,” she says, referring to the start of the recession.
Her documentary plays have received a great reaction and this current production of Singlehood has been funded by an Arts Council touring grant.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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