Greystones In Their Pockets

Aideen Walton and her Greystones Players gang couldn’t have picked a better play to launch themselves with than Dancing At Lughnasa.

As the fella says, there’s drinking and eating in the thing, Brian Friel’s 1990 hit exploring not only on the Ireland of the 1930s, the role of women in Irish society, and the magic of childhood holidays but also delivering enough tears and laughter to power a whole town.

Which is what the Greystones Players is all about, of course. The magic of being in a room with people from your own community for a night of storytelling is both timeless and priceless.

Due to run at the town’s soon-come state-of-the-art new theatre from May 11th to the 14th, there will be a lot of familiar faces up there on that stage. More than one play could handle, in fact, with two different sets of Mundy sisters alternating performances for the run.

So, playing Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Rose and Chris will be Shirley O’Keefe, Val Kiernan, Orlagh Ryan, Miriam Keegan and Georgina Lawless on one night, and Mandy Hall, Laura Wood, Lesley-Ann Whelan, Sheena Griffin and Jodie Neary another.

Joining them for each performance will be Eoin O’Mahoney as Michael Mundy, Leo Dalton as Gerry Evans and Dick Lynch as Fr. Jack Mundy.

The talent behind the stage includes Sophie O’Connor, Ger Galvin, Niamh Bowe, Oonagh Hodkinson and, of course, Greystones Players’ founder, and the play’s director, Aideen Walton.

One big happy family. With lots of incredible adventures ahead.

We caught up with Val Kiernan and Dick Lynch down on Theatre Lane this afternoon, to find out more about this local drama group getting ready for their very first close-up…

You can find check out our interview with Aideen Walton here, and check out the Greystones Players on their Facebook page here. You can also email the drama group directly on [email protected]. Sadly, the bould Dick Lynch passed away on February 22nd, 2019.