Play supported by Longford's Backstage Theatre brought everyone to the party
'Jilly Morgan's Birthday Party' gave the audience plenty of laughs, as well as showing McCarthy's skill in immersive dialogue
The Backstage Theatre has always been supportive of the arts with an array of workshops and bursaries available.
On Thursday, September 25, Backstage hosted the performance of ‘Jilly Morgan’s Birthday Party’, the highly anticipated production written by Liam McCarthy (from Limerick), produced by Joan Sheehy and starring Patrick Ryan and Georgina Miller.
With an entertained audience and members of the Lime Tree theatre group in attendance, the play was a reflective piece that starts off in 1983, the day of the birthday party, to 1996, 2010 and ends at 2025, before flash-backing to the beginning if the characters had not attended the party. It focuses on the characters of Jack and Kate, and their staggered lives, regretted or unexplored decisions, and the sudden reality of time.
Liam McCarthy’s Longford appreciation has been strong over the course of September. Having written ‘He Dies in the End’ which was previewed in Backstage with Longford’s Darren Yorke, he also brought that very play to Dublin Fringe Festival. ‘Jilly Morgan’s Birthday Party’ was supported by the Activate residency by Backstage, and supported by the Arts Council and Creative Ireland, Longford.
“Access to time and space and some financial support is absolutely game changing for artists. With Activate I was able to spend 2 days by myself editing the script of ‘Jilly Morgan's Birthday Party’, and then 3 days with artists (director, producer, sound designer, actors etc.) developing the play and doing readings and workshopping the text with the actors. It was extremely beneficial,” said Liam when asked about Longford's involvement.
“Following the Activate residency I was lucky enough to get Arts Council funding and to stage the piece, in partnership with the Lime Tree Theatre | Belltable, Limerick who produced the show and provided the lion's share of the funding.”
Liam said that the play coming to Longford has been like a homecoming experience.
Describing it as very special to have been showing it in Backstage Theatre, Liam said prior to the show that he was excited to show it to Longford audiences.
“Mona and everyone at Backstage have been enormously supportive of me and my work over the past few years - so it is very exciting to return to Backstage with the show.
I think Activate is one of the best artist support initiatives in the country. The brilliant facilities at the theatre, as well as that crucial element of covering the cost of accommodation sets it apart from other artists' support initiatives. Living and working with artists for a short stint of time can be very productive. I would encourage any theatre artist considering it to apply for the next round of the Activate Award.”
Laughter and catchy music, Backstage Theatre has aided the creation of a memorable piece.