THE closing play of September’s Four New Plays produced by Bottom Dog Theatre Company in association with many is Dermot Petty’s ‘Celtic Cross’. Taking place in Belltable Arts Centre on Sunday 23, 8pm, the director is Simon Thompson of Orchard Theatre Company, one of Ireland’s busiest producers/ directors. Fresh from designing Limerick Youth Theatre’s ‘The Miser’ and dramatising a version of Edith Wharton’s poem ‘Terminus’ for Culture Night, Thompson is delighted with Petty’s farcical take on the boom years.
“It’s a spanking new play, ‘Celtic Cross’, that has never been performed. It has Peter and Finn, two lads in their late 20s, early 30s who find a Celtic cross during the height of the Celtic Tiger years. They also come across a Celtic goddess of poetry, AI, who comes alive as these guys go about trying to sell the cross for money”.
A master in commedia del’ arte and bouffon comedy, Simon Thompson enjoys spinning the element of people trying to make money through greed and… is that succeeding?
With ten actors on stage playing archetypes such as farmer, female garda, travelling American – “everyone knows something about someone” – expect Bottom Dog familiars such as Liam O’Brien (excellent in September 9’s ‘Front Row Seat’ as the naive Kennedy fan); Zeb Moore, David Collins and Pius McGrath. Expect ‘Celtic Cross’ to showcase actors new to the stage also.
This rehearsed reading works on a pay-what-you-like ticket, 8pm on Sunday 23. Kind thanks to Gerry Barnes and staff at Belltable for facilitating this Four New Plays series.
