Gina Gaffney, Philip Harding and Veronica McGuire (taken in 1994)

Who’s got 20p for the phone? This was a recurring question in the early days of Barnstorm’s development when we needed to make a call from the local telephone box!

 

There was no office, no funding, no headed-paper; nothing but a group of people who wanted to make theatre and establish a professional theatre company for Kilkenny.

Here we are celebrating 20 years of Barnstorm, and we have gone a long way to fulfilling those early dreams:

  • 73 productions with our Theatre for Young Audiences, Youth Theatres, Community Theatre, Adult Theatre Clubs, Outreach Projects, and general audience productions;
  • The Barn theatre at Barnstorm- a centre of experiment and excellence in making and presenting theatre to a wide, loyal and still growing audience of children, young people, adults, schools and families in Kilkenny and the southeast;
  • A full-time core staff that works tirelessly all year round;
  • Up to 60 artists engaged for different projects in the annual programme;
  • The Barn Owl Players amateur drama group;
  • Annually funded by the Arts Council;
  • Supported by Kilkenny County Council;
  • A strong and hard-working Board of Directors.

 

Back in 1991, with the support of Margaret Cosgrave, Arts Officer with Kilkenny County Council, and Barry Lynch of Ossory Youth Services, Barnstorm had first poked its head out. The first element of the organisation was the formation of Kilkenny Youth Theatre, which had its inaugural workshop in September of that year. The professional side of the company was formed in 1992 with the support of a FÁS CE Scheme that included actors Ber O’Hara, Helen Walsh and Ann Widger; Costume Designer Bernie McCoy; Set Designer Harry Harris and assistance with administration from Carmel Dwyer. Our first production was Agnes of God, which was presented in Cleere’s Pub theatre to huge success and local support.

The dream was to establish a theatre organisation in Kilkenny that would serve the entire community, not just the existing theatre-going audience. This meant finding ways to make theatre and theatre arts accessible to a wider audience – children, young people, communities and local groups.

And the dream goes on! This year we present a World Premiere of A Murder of Crows, written by Olivier award-winning author Mike Kenny in collaboration with Barnstorm; a national tour of The Song from the Sea and more. Upcoming events will be posted on the site.

It’s great to be 20 years old! There are so many people who have contributed to Barnstorm’s development over the years; our audiences, parents, businesses, local authorities, schools, teachers, members of our Board(s), Donors, Friends, actors, designers, production crews, well-wishers…the list is endless!

MAY WE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THANK YOU
AND WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU!

Philip Hardy
Artistic Director