Now and Then Production encourage people to get involved in arts and culture

JASON Nagle, chairperson of the Now and Then Production Company, celebrated his “surprise” win of the Arts and Culture award at the 2025 Tallaght Person of the Year ceremony.

In this exclusive interview, he highlighted the company’s mission to boost confidence and inclusivity by emphasising its non-profit ethos and its recent relocation to Kilnamanagh for non-religious shows.

He speaks about the upcoming production of ‘Back to the 80s’ in April 2026 and the Christmas carol service performed on December 10.

Jason praises the group’s positive impact and thanks his family and the community for their support.

The company’s mission is to encourage people to get involved in arts and culture, especially those who might not normally appear on stage.

Read more in his exclusive interview with The Echo here.

Congratulations on the win, Jason. What was your immediate reaction?

I was sitting down at the back of the hall. I was reading the nominations for my category with my two sons.

Suddenly, my name was called, and my son told me it was for me. I genuinely wasn’t expecting to win at all.

There are an awful lot of deserving nominees.

I think being nominated in this category is fantastic, especially when considering all the amazing activities related to arts and culture that take place in Tallaght, where there is a lot of competition.

I was fortunate to be selected ahead of the other nominees in the group.

Tell us about your involvement with Now and Then

I believe it reflects the excellent work that Now and Then does in encouraging people to get involved.

It’s about getting people who wouldn’t normally perform to gain the confidence to sing and dance, which is how I met my wife 34 years ago.

She encouraged me to participate, and since then, it has become a personal passion for me.

It has consistently grown, providing me with confidence, a sense of belonging, and acceptance as a member of the group.

The group itself is truly remarkable, welcoming everyone. If you think you can’t sing, if you think you can’t act, we’ll show you how.

If you want to help backstage, that is no problem. We will encourage whatever talents you have that you want to contribute to the group.

The only thing we ever ask of anybody is time.

We make it a point not to charge subscription fees because the original ethos of the group was to provide opportunities for younger people with talent.

I understand it was a busy 2025 for the company; what can you tell us about it?

We’ve been busy. We had a new show, ‘Together We Rise’, in April 2025.

Catherine Griffin formulated and scripted it. She’s our director for the upcoming show as well.

Catherine dedicates herself fully to the project, demonstrating a strong passion for attempting something new.

When we were setting this play up last year, it was a snippet of different shows: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Les Miserables’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Hamilton’, and ‘Come From Away’.

It was wonderful to expand the existing group’s skills, recruit new members, and do something outside our usual scope.

We have many younger members now because of it.

What has been your favourite part of working with the company this year, and why?

In ‘Together We Rise’, I played the role of Monsieur Thénardier from Les Miserables.

Once again, the show featured numbers that were different from the usual type.

I’ve played a few different parts in different biblical productions: Potiphar in ‘Joseph’ and King Herod in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

You get to play and perfect these roles multiple times.

Monsieur Thenardier is just brilliant.

Over the last few years, I had an awful lot of fun portraying Herod, but this role has also been a wonderful experience.

Lisa Fox portrays Mrs Thenardier, and her sarcasm makes her a delightful collaborator.

We had excellent chemistry on stage.

What have been some of the greatest challenges you have encountered this year, and why?

In terms of the Now and Then, I suppose the greatest challenge was having a new home for the week of the show.

Our home is always going to be the Priory, and we’re always grateful.

That’s where the group itself originated. However, for this year and next year, we have relocated to Kilnamanagh.

The difficulty was adapting to Kilnamanagh and finding the flow.

You could nearly do ‘Joseph’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in your sleep.

We’ve probably done them three or four times each, but the idea was that we wanted to try something new because we would rather not keep doing the same things.

The challenge was to find the rhythm of this show, which I believe the cast and the production team successfully achieved.

What is next for Now and Then in 2026?

Our first goal is to get ready for ‘Back to the 80s’ in April 2026.

We have our opening night on April 8; we then have a night off due to the previous arrangements in Kilnamanagh.

We’re back in then on Friday, April 10, and have a matinee and an evening show on Saturday, April 11.

The current production is a brand-new show, one that only a handful of us have experience with.

We will be busy singing, dancing, and learning the songs.

I know that the guys in Now and Then are busy rehearsing, and they also had a Christmas carol service on December 10 in St Mary’s Priory to say “thank you” to St Mary’s and to St Maelruain’s.

All the proceeds were donated to the relevant houses.

Who would you like to thank for their role in helping you earn this award?

I believe that the nomination resulted from the truly outstanding work of the entire group, including the cast, backstage team, production staff, crew, and committee, who all demonstrate an overwhelmingly positive attitude.

This nomination reflects the entire group, including its previous members from past years, and traces back to its very beginnings with Pat Dunne, Ger Dunne, Shay Roach, and the original committee and founding group, who gave us a great foundation on how to go forward, to get people involved, and to encourage them.

This legacy has continued with the current version of the group.

I can’t do this without the support of my family, especially my wife, who is brilliant.