Synge It Back

He may not be quite up there at the Max high mark of beauty, but, Jaysus, that Cian Hall is one handsome fecker.

He’s also funny, charming, talented and self-effacing.

Which may go some way to explaining why Aideen Walton and her Greystones Players gang have chosen young Cian for the lead role in their upcoming production of John Millington Synge’s 1907 classic, Playboy Of The Western World.

Even though the lad has been acting from the very first day that he was able to climb up on a stage, as we went to meet Cian Hall down at The Whale – where Playboy will be staged from Thursday, April 26th to Sunday the 29th – we realised that we knew little about his background.

So, we asked his mum, Mandy  -who last year starred in the Players’ debut production, Dancing At Lughnasa – for a few notes. Big mistake.

The notes began arriving in our inbox later that night. And continued the following morning. In fact, whenever you’re reading this, chances are, more notes are arriving.

But, hey, Mandy [left] is plainly one very proud mum. And how could she not be? The little fecker made his professional debut as a Lost Boy in the world premiere production of Peter Pan at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, returning there to play a prince in The King & I, whilst, as a member of Youth Theatre Ireland, Cian is part of the current tour of Changing Rooms, hitting The Lyric Theatre in Belfast and The Mermaid in Bray. Add to that, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kineke in Grease, Lazar Wolf in Fiddler On The Roof and The Artful Dodger in Oliver!, and the kid plainly has range.

Oh, and Cian got a silver medal in Grade 9 Irish Speech & Drama, can belch the national anthem, and was runner-up in the Best Actor category for Too Fast in the Bray One-Act Festival. And he’s heading to college, to study Law at UCD. So he can sue any director who don’t treat him with respect. And awe.

There’s more, but, you get the picture. Cian Hall is talented. Very talented. He’s also held a deep passion for Playboy Of The Western World long before getting the part, which should make April’s shows something very special indeed… 

Running from Thursday, April 26th to Sunday 29th at The Whale, grab your Playboy Of The Western World tickets right about here.