CAST your mind back to the glory of Pigtown, the Irish Times/EBS award winning play created by Mike Finn and Island Theatre Company. Scroll forward a decade to a newer theatre group, Bottom Dog Theatre, new writing in Porkville! and a new host, Loft Venue.
News of Porkville!, a work in progress, went out when Loft Venue at The Locke Bar & Restaurant called a press launch for Loft’s July roster. It’s just one show in an eye-popping series of performance/ visual arts adapted for or made for the ‘pub theatre’ genre appropriate to these riverside twin venues.
Climbing the stairs to various chambers and the intimate stage, the air was fragrant with coffee, hope and good humour. More than Bottom Dog Theatre was there to meet and greet: Susan Holland and Tracey Aspell of Choke Comedy Improv; PR professional Kieran O’Brien; Lou McMahon and Kate Casey of P&P Productions; Myles Breen works with Bottom Dog, with Choke Comedy Improv and occasionally, with pantomime and charity fundraisers. Virtually all performers have streams of work in place to keep the coffers stable.
What’s P&P for? asked Arts page. “Poise and panache”, said Lou and Kate in unison. With flair like that, their residency of artist bookings for Wednesday nights should be worth a look.
Mike Finn and Myles Breen, old soldiers and constant creatives, are putting their heads together for Porkville! A Comic History of Limerick. It will run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday dates throughout July from Thursday 15 onwards.
With such a stuffed calendar – Choke Comedy Improv on July 13 and Dave McSavage on July 23 are booked – Loft Venue’s early success is the stuff of comment.
Two other performers/ directors, Darren Maher and Zeb Moore, formed Magic Roundabout theatre company on leaving Language Unbecoming a Lady. They checked in later for four days with Zeb’s one man Spinal Krapp.
“We hit the ground running with Myles’ show, Language in late April,” Mike Finn observes. “We are only open a couple of months and Loft Venue has taken off on its own – people such as Mephisto Theatre Company have come looking for us on the strength of having seen that show. We now have The Sinnan running on Wednesdays until the end of August, featuring original music and singer/ songwriters, poetry and an art exhibition, putting on a different night each week”.
He feels Limerick’s core theatre audience has dissolved according to habit not meeting with supply through Belltable, Island and Impact venues fading. Loft Venue is a response to other interests: shorter shows, cheap tickets, no interval, variety in style and even within individual events such as the sessions.
