'You can’t think about work, you can’t think about the bills, you are really present in that moment along with the cast which is lovely, it’s a switch off'

Last year Stephen Skelly was invited down to the old village hall in Kildalkey, or Community Centre as it is now known, to do a reading for a play the recently-formed local drama group were planning to stage.

It wasn’t a long journey for Stephen – at least not physically. He lives only a short walk away.

A plasterer by trade and in his sixties, he was, however, about to embark on an extraordinary journey of self-revelation when he discovered he had an aptitude and love for acting.

“When they invited me down for a reading, they handed me the script and I just thought to myself what have I got to lose? I read it and they said: ‘Ok you’ve got the part.’”

The play was ‘House Husband’ by Westmeath writer Jimmy Keary and Stephen was the house husband.

“That was my first play, I never stood before an audience up until then,” he now recalls reflecting back with a sense of wonder on that memorable day.

He says he was “shocked” at just how much he liked acting and how fulfilled he felt from the act of bringing words on a script to life.

Theatre, he discovered, is an intriguing and very fulfilling business.

“I love acting, being involved, the anticipation, the challenge of learning the lines, trying to get everything right, learning how to act.”

“I was really nervous the first night I came down but once I got on stage and read the piece I just said 'I can do this'. It does greatly help that all of the committee and the cast are so forgiving and so supportive of one another.

The cast Stephen refers to are members of the Kildalkey Drama Group which has been up and running and open for business for over a year now.

The group can be seen as a symbol of the regeneration of a village.

Back in the 1960s and the early ‘70s a vibrant drama group was operating out of Kildalkey. Every now and again, those involved would put in a show.

Crowds flocked to the local hall.

Then the swinging recession of the 1980s began to hit home. People emigrated. The drama group ceased operations. In time fortunes changed, the economy improved. The Celtic Tiger bounded into view. Houses were built. People moved back.

Now a theatrical group has formed. It is made up of relatively new residents with widely diverse backgrounds, along with long-term residents such as Stephen Skelly. New faces, new era, new ideas.

Stephen’s wife Helen also played a part in ensuring House Husband was staged. In the last few hours before the play was about to start, one of the female cast members had to cry off due to a sudden bereavement.

What to do? Helen bravely saved the day stepping onto the stage to play the part even though acting was all new to her as well.

In theatre, sometimes the biggest drama is off stage.

“She knew she couldn’t fail with the support she was getting from everybody who was involved in the production,” added Stephen.

On 27th and 28th September at 7.30 the KDG, will unveil to the public their latest production – ‘Family Spirit’ written by Dan Woolaston. It’s a play about the lead character, Arthur Scimmins, and his journey into the afterlife and much more.

The members of the cast include Tracy Tuffin, Claire Prout, Lauren O’Sullivan, John McKenna, Stephen Skelly (who plays a very prominent role), Derek O’Donnell and Declan McCann. The play is directed by Armand Cronje, with assistant director Janis Turner.

STARTING OUT

John McKenna didn’t dream of becoming an actor when he was a youngster growing up in Moynalty. He did, however, in time come to develop a love for film, theatre and drama.

He admired actors like Michael Keating; how they could light up a play or film with their own distinctive style.

He came to appreciate even more what was involved in producing a play, turning words into sound and action, when he joined the Moynalty Drama Group.

He was encouraged to do so by a friend and was given his first part. He was hooked.

Considering his background it’s no surprise that John, who works as a welder/fabricator, should take to the theatre. A relative of his was TP McKenna, from Mullagh, Co Cavan who took part in many films and players during a distinguished career. The great TP died in 2011 at 81.

In time John McKenna and his wife Susan moved to Kildalkey. Travelling to Moynalty for rehearsals, a long trek, didn’t make sense any more.

Early last year Susan and John put out flyers announcing that they were looking to set up a new drama group in Kildalkey. A night in April was chosen for the first meeting.

“I was bricking it, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” recalls John. “Would anyone turn up? As it turned out 13 people did show. We set up a committee after that, reading plays, different plays, and decided to have a launch night.

“We decided to put on a one-act play, ‘What’s for Pudding.’ There were five people on stage who had never acted, or done drama before. I directed the play and I had never directed a play before.”

The production was a success.

Since then the Kildalkey Drama Group have also staged ‘Mirror, Mirror’, ‘Lockdown in the Village’ and now ‘Family Spirit’ is about to get an airing.

The essence of acting, John says, is stepping outside your comfort zone and pushing the boundaries. Not that it’s all about the actors, far from it.

“Some people come down and they take to it (acting) like a duck to water. Then there are people who don’t want to go on stage but who are just as important because you’ve got the backstage, building the set, the front-of-house on the night. There’s so much involved other than the play people come to see.

While John loves acting Susan prefers to help out in some other way. She has become the sound and lighting engineer for the ‘Family Spirit’ production. She is also the treasurer of KDG. It’s about adopting and contributing in whatever role you can.

One of the great benefits that Tracy Tuffin found from kick-starting a career in amateur dramatics is that it offered a perfect way to push the cares of the world into the background – for a few hours at least.

“When you are on the stage, it’s pure mindfulness because you have to be present, you have to be listening to what’s going on, what’s the next line,” she says.

“You can’t think about work, you can’t think about the bills, you are really present in that moment along with the cast which is lovely, it’s a switch off.”

Originally from Dublin, Tracy lived in London for 15 years. She returned to Ireland eight years ago and has now settled with her family in Kildalkey. She works as Head of Sales for Prepay Power, the utility company.

She too highlights how being a part of the KDG is a very enjoyable, rewarding social outlet, bringing people together who in normal circumstances would never meet up.

“There’s people from the old village, people from South Africa, Germany, Dublin, Monaghan, Cork, all over, it has really brought a very different demographic together, people who have never met before.”

She also believes that when parents are involved in some project or past-time in the community, their children will be more willing to follow in their footsteps.

“It’s great for the kids to see us on stage because they will say: ‘if mam and dad can do something, so can we.’ It’s a positive thing for youngsters to be involved in community projects.”

DIRECTOR

Among those people who have been part of the Kildalkey Drama Group from the start are Armand and Claire Cronje.

The couple moved from South Africa to Ireland in 2019 and lived in Dublin and Trim before settling in Kildalkey, or “the beautiful village of Kildalkey” as Armand refers to it.

As someone who works in IT, Armand says that his job involves making presentations to people, so public speaking is not daunting for him.

He wasn’t in the group’s first production but did help out backstage with his DIY and other skills.

“I wasn’t in ‘What’s for Pudding’ but I did help backstage. We didn’t have a sound engineer so I filled in there as well because I did that as a hobby when I was growing up.”

Now, Armand has graduated up to the highly influential role of stage director for ‘Family Spirit.’

From the start he was thinking about who would suit the particular roles.

“I am fortunate to have a great cast and when I read the play I had already placed them in some shape or form, just from knowing everybody in the group and what’s going on.”

Armand says that being a member of the drama group has helped Claire and him integrate into the local community.

They now know considerably more people in Kildalkey than was the case when they first joined the group.

Claire also plays her part as Group PRO and she points out how some of the proceeds earned by KDG go back into the community, such as meeting the expenses of sustaining the local hall.

“Acting is magical. Change your look and your attitude and you can be anyone,” said American actress Alicia Witt.

No doubt those involved with the Kildalkey Drama Group would agree.

* PRO of the Kildalkey Drama Group, Claire Cronje, contacted the Meath Chronicle to outline how the Meath County Council provided funding to the Group which they are deeply grateful to receive.

"All the members of the Drama Group are volunteers, no one gets paid and we give most of our profit back to the community and the rest to cover costs only," she added.