Clondalkin Drama Group ‘An Evening of Belly Aches and Politics’

 

Group member Cianna Bramble caught up with The Echo to give us the low down on their latest productions.

It’s a unique thing to stage two plays in one night, how challenging is it to do it for five nights in a row?

It is quite a challenging thing to do, but we’ve been doing shows like this in September for a few years now but doing it for five nights is definitely fairly new due to the growth in our audiences.

On one hand, it’s very satisfying to do the five nights because just being able to fill seats for that long is amazing and shows that more and more people are discovering us and our performances – which is what we do all this for, to entertain others.

The cast and members also have so much fun doing it, because we love to act and we love to bring all these different characters to life, and seeing so many happy audience faces.

On the other hand, it’s challenging in many aspects, getting the money for the rights, availability of members and venue, etc.

A lot has to be sorted behind the scenes coming up to a show like this which is made extra challenging by the fact that we all have lives outside of the group, whether that be school or work, so time is very limited but we all do what we can, when we can to bring great theatre to the people of Clondalkin and beyond!

But no matter what, we always finish a show extremely happy, but also wishing there was another night.

How long have you been rehearsing?

We have been rehearsing An Evening of Bellyaches & Politics since July, so roughly three months now.

How are the rehearsals going?

Rehearsals have been going incredibly well. Since the word go the cast has hit the ground running, and always putting in maximum effort.

Rehearsals this time around have been extra busy because not only do we have the two shows for this production, we are also preparing a show for the One Act Festival that is happening around November, so we have the most amount of people involved in something than ever before.

It really is all hands on deck and all our members have been a great help, on and off stage.

With just weeks left of rehearsal, we are so eager to bring this production to the stage because of all the work we have been putting into it. Both shows are incredibly funny, with some very talented people too.

You’re in one of the plays is that right? Tell us a little bit about what your character is up to.

Yes, I am playing the character of Madeleine Gascoigne in Going Green, the short play by David Tristram. Madeleine is the medical professional that is helping the future Green Party leader John Brown with his mystery illness.

Madeline is extremely passionate about what she does, even with the unorthodox method she has found to help this very mysterious illness.

We see Madeleine in two timelines. The play jumps in and out of the present, where Madeleine is being interviewed by the Head of the British Secret Service, and the past, where the events that Madeleine was discussing in her interview would come to life, such as how she met John Brown and how she was going to help with his illness.

What can people expect from An Evening of Belly Aches and Politics?

Exactly what the title says! Audiences should expect to be laughing their socks off all night with these two hilarious shows by David Tristram. Both plays are uniquely funny and we have been cracking up ourselves in rehearsals. It will be a truly wonderful night for those who come.

Have you got many more productions planned for the rest of the year?

This year we have something new, or rather something we haven’t done in a long time. We are competing in the One Act Festivals that go on around the country, with our performance of More Sinned Against Than Sinning that we performed in Quinlan’s this time last year. However, due to the nature, we don’t have full details on that yet.

Other than that, we of course will be having our annual original Pantomime during the second and third weekend of January.

The script is already underway by one of our members, and all information will be released on our facebook page, and other social medias, and through our newsletter.

People can always email us at clondalkindramagrp@gmail.com for more information about our performances. Our Pantos are always fun-filled, and great joy and laughs for the entire family!

We usually perform every May, September and January.

Tickets to ‘An Evening of Belly Aches and Politics’ in Quinlan’s Black Lion Pub can be purchased from Clondalkin Village Hardware and are €5 on opening night, September 24 and €10 from September 25 to 28.