Barnstorm Bench Tales – The world premiere of three new exciting plays in a series of open-air performances on park benches as part of Kilkenny Arts Festival. Clandestine meetings and chance encounters – the socially-distant audience ‘spied’ on the drama from afar in a unique theatre experience.
Bench Tales – There is Always Tomorrow by Joe Bergin A chance meeting between a young woman and an older man on a park bench may not be all that it seems. Why has she come here and what is she looking for? As she attempts to uncover the truth, is she fully prepared for what she might find?
Bench Tales – Pink Makes the Boys Wink by Julie Sharkey A comic, full of heart story about getting old. How time can creep up on us and take us by surprise. A story about three women. One woman’s compassion. One woman’s fear and one woman’s joy in Hello magazine.
Bench Tales – The Last Trip to Tipp by Gemma Creagh It’s 1994. Lorraine, Emma and Mairead are three friends heading in very different directions. Well not literally. Right now, they are all on their way to Féile – and with a line up like Crowded House, Primal Scream, The Prodigy, The Cranberries, Björk, and Blur – the craic will be fierce. With one mouldy tent, ancient sleeping bags and a fine slab of Lindon Village cans, they wait on a lift from their flaky friend, Suzanne – who’s late as usual.
Event details
| Dates | Mon 14th to Sat 19th Aug 2023 |
| Times | 11:00, 13:00 (lunchtime) & 15:00 |
| Running time | approx. 80 minutes |
| Ticket prices | €20 (€17 concession) |
| Where | 3 locations in Castle Park (check with KAF) |
Barnstorms’ Adult Theatre Club is starting in 2023 with a one-year part-time programme, Theatre Production Skills.
The ATC, originally a 2-year course, was first introduced in 2007 in answer to many requests from adults in the region who wanted to know more about theatre and how to make a performance. With a maximum of 14 members each year the alumni from successive groups (2007-2015) formed the Barn Owl Players which has remains a vibrant local amateur theatre company that still creates its own unique blend of theatre and theatrical happenings from Tennessee Williams, to John B Keane and from One-Act Festivals to full length plays.
The 2023 Adult Theatre Club will act as an introduction to local adults who wish to explore, investigate and create theatre as a hobby.
With the support of Kilkenny’s professional theatre company behind the club, this really is an exciting opportunity to join a vibrant and dynamic programme of both training and performances. In the past, club members have experienced training in everything from improvisation, basic acting and stagecraft to theatre directing and scriptwriting.
“The Adult Theatre Club is an ideal way of introducing anyone new to acting and theatre in a fun environment; as well as offering local actors a means of honing their skills.” says new Participation and Education Officer Jo Hennessy. “No experience is necessary just a keen interest, an open mind and a willingness to try new things” she says.
If you are interested fill in an online Registration Form by Friday 27 January. You can also contact Jo, 056 7751266 or jo@barnstorm.ie, to get a Registration Form
The first session is on the 2 February and every Thursday evening thereafter from 7.00 to 9.00pm at 3 Johns Quay, Kilkenny R95 T382. Booking is essential, as places are limited.
A captivating production in the enchanted surroundings of the boot factory Padmore and Barnes of Kilkenny from the 30th November to 16th December.
This is a short and caring story about a Christmas gift and based on one of the very few traditional fairy tales with a Christmas theme. The poor shoemakers receive some unexpected help just when they need it most. Based on the Grimms’ fairytale, “The Elves and the Shoemakers” by Mike Kenny is for children aged 4-9 years and tells the tale of two kind elves who help two penniless shoemakers out of their troubles and back on their feet. Presented to small audiences in the intimate surroundings of the Shoemakers’ Shop, this is a delightful introduction to theatre for very young audiences.
A resource pack is available to teachers linked to the SPHE syllabus, for exploration and discussion of themes in the play.
The Quiet Land by Malachy McKenna – Lunchtime Theatre at 3 John’s Quay
Two elderly farmers, Eamon and Nashee, meet at a gate on a remote hillside. These men are old friends, old rivals, old neighbours. They are men of heart, of humour, of hardness. Their conversation is a throwback to a gentler time, when silence was as telling as declaration, and meaning was more often found between the lines than on them. But there’s nothing gentle about today’s conversation. In facing the bitter reality of their remote defiance, they have grown fearful and desperate. Now they are forced to confront each other with some heart-breaking truths that test their friendship to its limit.
The Quiet Land is a celebration of the humour, resilience and endearing innocence of an exiled generation as it struggles to survive in the isolated rural Ireland of today. It is Malachy McKenna’s heartfelt tribute to a rare breed of forgotten men who live a long way in off the road. Winner of the PJ O’Connor Award 2014.
Featuring local actors Ger Cody & Brendan Corcoran, the play was directed by Philip Hardy with design team Harry Harris, Joan Brennan, and Vincent Dempsey. As part of the AKA Fringe Festival 2022, Barnstorm launched its Lunchtime Theatre in collaboration with the Home Rule Club.