ORCHARD Theatre is one of the most productive theatre companies in the country. Headed up by artistic director Simon Thompson, this Limerick based collective has staged eight plays in CentreSPACE Studios, in Loft Venue, in Limerick Youth Theatre Studio and at Belltable in the past 18 months, as well as touring Munster with several of its shows. Thompson has directed another three, all biggies – ‘The Crucible’, ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ and ‘Faust’.
A new tour, a new playwright beckons with the selection of three short plays by Anton Chekhov. This is a treat for Limerick, as sole exposure to date was by Impact Theatre Company in footling days of 1998 in a room overhead the benevolent Jerry Flannery’s Bar.
Simon Thompson, fresh from a vigorous Faust by LYT, moved on to the Russian great in the spirit of inquiry.
“Chekhov was a very formulaic writer, almost the foundation in dramatic work with respect to character writing. He wrote a huge amount of short plays from which I have chosen ‘The Bear’, ‘The Dangers of Tobacco’ and ‘The Proposal’”, Thompson says. “Each of these texts is about 20minutes long and they are all very comic works that work well together”.
‘The Bear’ starts off with a widow who receives a visit from a creditor owed by her deceased husband. The two start fighting, to the point there is almost a duel. However an element of sexual tension sets in when the creditor finds he is falling for her and I am not going to tell you whether he woos or not. Attend to Loft Venue on October Sunday 2, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 at 7.30pm to look up skirts.
Thompson goes on to sketch out the other shorts. ‘The Dangers of Tobacco’ is a monologue, a man ostensibly giving an educative talk on the dreaded weed who careers into a henpecked husband’s lament. Completing the October production, ‘The Proposal’ is about a boy-girl-next-door scenario in which another of Chekhov’s volatile, pivotal females pulls the dynamic in her sway.
Orchard Theatre’s cast for the three plays are Stefan Barry, Marie Boylan (Wildebeest Theatre Company) and Piotr Matijczak. Their director, a gifted costumer himself, promises beautiful period clothes to showcase Russia of the 1850s. Booking is at The Locke Bar in advance. See www.orchardtc.com
Authentic 19th century costuming for this trio of plays in Loft Venue, over The Locke Bar, October 2, 4, 5, 6.
