Popular O'Casey drama for Athboy

Members of Athboy Drama Society are in the final days of rehearsals of their production of Sean O"Casey"s 'Juno and the Paycock" which takes to the stage of St James" Hall in Athboy on Thursday 14th May for three nights. The fourteen strong cast together with producer, Teresa Coleman, have been working hard for the past two months to ensure that this production lives up to the standard that drama lovers in Athboy and the surrounding areas have come to expect from the society. First produced in 1925, Juno and the Paycock is widely considered to be the best of O"Casey"s plays - it is certainly the most popular - and features some of his most iconic characters. In this case he tells the story of the Boyle family who lives in a Dublin tenement during the turbulent times immediately following the Civil War. Headed by the self-styled 'Captain" Jack Boyle and his long suffering wife, Juno, the family"s troubles appear to be over when a distant relative dies and leaves them a fortune - but things don"t go according to plan. O"Casey"s hatred of social injustice is very evident in the play and his opinion that women carry the greatest burden of society"s ills is reflected in his portrayal of Juno, who is an indomitable character, living for her family. Brenda Rice has been charged with bringing this wonderful woman to the Athboy stage and she is relishing the challenge. Having previously played more comic roles in 'Blythe Spirit" and 'The Plaza Suite", Brenda is delighted that she has an opportunity to tackle a very different, strong character. Despite being billed by O"Casey himself as a tragedy, Juno and the Paycock has great humour. The Dublin wit is strong throughout but especially in the interaction between Captain Boyle - the Paycock of the piece - and his sidekick Joxer Daly played by Fergal Fitzpatrick and Cathal Donohoe respectively. Despite only discovering the stage when he joined the Drama Society in Athboy, Fergal is by now very experienced, having played roles in a number of the society"s productions, most recently in the very successful production of 'The Field" last autumn. Cathal was a regular with the local Macra club"s drama teams over the years but is taking on his biggest role with the society this year, having previously been in the one-act play 'The Space Between the Years". Juno and the Paycock has a very large cast and this is giving a greater number of members, new and old, an opportunity to take to the stage. Aisling Murray, Jillian Ennis, Charlie Smyth, Anne Fitzpatrick, Brendan Smith, Anthony Foy and Martin McGovern have all preformed with the society before while Declan Cassells, Declan McCann, Eamonn Cassells and Tim Slavin are making their society debut. Juno and the Paycock runs on Thursday 14th, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May in St James" Hall, Athboy commencing at 8pm. Tickets are €10, with concessions at €7, available at the door or from (087) 750 2145.