Local Faces: Billy Mangan

Have you ever watched the Coronation Street, Eastenders, Fair City and so on and thought, he’s a brutal actor, I could do better than him!, writes Ken Doyle.

Well read on, this could be your chance!

Basement Productions is a local, diverse drama group, serving the Ballyfermot/Cherry Orchard area of Dublin.

For anyone who’s never done it, putting together a play or a show is a Herculean task.

Luckily, with  Billy Mangan leading the way, Basement is, at all times either performing or preparing for the next show.

Billy, as you might have guessed, is our Face of the Community this week, and he recently managed to extricate himself from his work for an hour, giving us time to chat about his life and work.

A true Ballyfermot man, there was nothing in his early life that suggested an artistic bent.

“I was born in Cromona Road in Ballyer, and went to the ‘Deeler’ (De La Salle college). I, like many young people at that time, left at 13. Following many years working as an electrician, I decided on a change of career and I applied for a Community Development course.

‘I enjoyed this so much more than my schooldays – they treated us like adults”

So deciding that that was the way I wanted my career to go, I stayed longer and eventually graduated with a diploma and a master’s in Community Development.

So, then came the age-old question – what now. He needn’t have worried because as Billy says, his next opportunity fell into his lap.

“My brother was the actor in the family and he performed with the now sadly defunct Palmerstown Players. I hooked up with them and ended up giving a hand with everything, including acting.”

“I loved what I did with them and, as they were coming to the end I was determined to stay in the artistic sector to pass on some of the things I learned.”

“The next thing I knew, I was Manager of Basement Productions, which was a splinter group from Palmerstown. From acting to directing to a million behind the scenes task, I just rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in.”

At times, Billy must’ve wondered what he’d let himself in for as there was perhaps a bit more work than he anticipated, but he handled it with great aplomb.

Who knew there was such a vibrant arts scene in Lower Ballyfermot? It’s a great resource though for people of all ages to get in and have a go.

“One thing to tell you about, he says, “Is that we have arrangements with some other groups and venues in the city. We worked up in Perrystown for a while and we have a great relationship with Smock Alley and regularly perform there.

We’ve even done plays in people’s homes! That was in collaboration with Broken Talkers Theatre group.”

“We also do a panto every year and believe it or not, we’re planning our Christmas schedule already.”

Billy also told me about a very interesting initiative which Basement run regularly and it’s called, ominously, ’15 Minutes of Pain.’

The idea is that we get some local playwrights to write an eight minute play, and it’s become a big success. We’re determined to find some local talent and give them a first step on the ladder to stage success.”

It’s important to note at this point that “Basement Productions” is a not for profit concern.

Believe it or not, somehow Billy finds time to have a family life too.

Billy is married to the sainted Teresa and between them they reared three children in Ballyfermot – David (who is sadly no longer with us), Alan and Barry.

Billy is very passionate about what he does and tells me there’s too many people to thank as he doesn’t want to leave anyone out.

He does give a shout out to Dublin City Council, the Arts Council, Markiewitz Community Centre and the Family Space who have been an enormous help.

Basement Productions will carry on with its programme to bring something a little more artistic to Dublin 10 and beyond.

With Billy at the helm, the sky’s the limit.

For more information on Basement Productions, please consult their Facebook page.