Longford drama group go loopy for this years Spring play
Mostrim Players drama group bring John McManus play to Longford stage
Longford drama lovers are set for a real treat this May Bank Holiday weekend as Mostrim Players bring Loophole to Backstage Theatre.
Loophole is a contemporary play with some fairly up-to-date themes running through it. Two miserable farmers, Paidi and Cass, appear to be best friends and are considering taking that friendship a bit further.
Motivated by their “love of clay” the two bachelors are about to relinquish the single life in a tale of deception and subterfuge.
The play may feature a double cross, or even a triple cross, and the audience will have to keep an eye on a chess mastermind who is thinking several moves ahead.
Samantha Lynch is one of the group members bringing the play to the stage as Production Manager: “It's essentially all about two old best friends, both farmers, both love the land and the way of life. One gets some bad news and decides to examine his life and get his thoughts together and move forward.
“Then we have his younger brother who may disagree with some of those decisions. We have a lovely 'lady of the night' who causes a bit of trouble, and we have a few nosy neighbours and a solicitor and a couple of other characters coming in to give their two cents on the situation as well.”
Director Vanessa Flood says the appeal of the play is down to its charm: “I'd say it's cheeky, and it'll make you laugh, but you'll also recognise your neighbours in these characters. You'll see people you know. Loopehole may even make you laugh at things that perhaps you shouldn't laugh at. It's just a fun night.”
Vanessa is enjoying the process of directing her crew of Mostrim Players: “I don't have any challenges so far, to be quite honest.
“What I'm enjoying is the fact that we are playing with the script, we're workshopping it, finding lots of different ways that we can interpret the story. That's what's really fun about it.
The director says local audiences will enjoy the show: “It's not a classic play, it's a new play. It has been done a couple of times over the Cavan direction, but I haven't seen it performed before, which is also a help.
“It allows me to put my own spin on it. Because it's set in modern times it allows us to play with the staging.”
Vanessa says the show is coming together well: “I have the perfect cast. I have the perfect person for each role, which I'm delighted with.
“There's a lot of risky content in it and I think it's important for the viewers to know this in advance, it's not fit for a younger audience but it's a lot of fun and it's something that you wouldn't have seen too often in plays before.”
Samantha says Loophole is a little different to previous Mostrim Players productions: “It's actually kind of fun. In the past we've done a lot of older style plays, so this time around we're nearly going against what we've become used to and probably best known for.
“We're getting to play around with things. We have mobile phones, computers, coffee machines, we have Alexa, and lots of different props to set the scene.
“The staging is still quite similar to a typical Irish home, even if it is a bachelor's home, so we're pulling from what we know. It's fun.”
Come along to Backstage to find out will Paidi and Cass have their happy ever after, will Kasia get the future she dreams of, will Rooster sober up long enough to figure out what is going on, will Molly and Mairead create their own gossip and will The Inspector save the environment.
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This fun show is about a changign Ireland, the odd brown envelope and how to take advantage of a Loopehole.
The show will feature the acting talents of Richie Cheevers (Paidi), Anthony Crewe (Cass), Thomas Lyons (Rooster), Anastasiia Zasimchuk (Kasia), Kate O'Donohoe (Caroline), Mary Killane (Karina), Marian Sheridan (Molly), Margaret Dunne (Mairead), and Paddy Donnolly is The Inspector.
The Mostrim Players staging of Loophole by John McManus takes place at Backstage Theatre Longford for three nights, commencing on Thursday, May 1, to Saturday, May 3, starting at 8:00pm.
Tickets costing €18 are available from the Backstage box office.