‘The Far-Off Hills’ on the way to Kiltoom
Kiltoom Drama Group is delighted to announce its upcoming spring production, a good, old-fashioned Irish comedy called 'The Far-Off Hills' by Lennox Robinson.
Director Ollie Hegarty says he is particularly pleased to welcome three new Kiltoom debutants - Nicola Gill, Claire Lemass and John Quinlan. They are ably supported by fellow cast members Rebecca Collins, Debbie Kilbride, Maeve O’Reilly, John Stack, Dermot Fitzgerald, John McGrath, and Ged Rowlands.
The play runs for four nights from Thursday, March 21st until Sunday, March 24th in Kiltoom Parish Hall.
Playwright Lennox Robinson was one of Ireland’s most prolific playwrights in the first half of the 20th century. He is renowned for his wry, understated observance of small-town and rural Irish society during that period.
In the charming tradition of the best Irish playwrights, he weaves a story of love, hope, dreams, religious vocation, handsome strangers, a hard to please neighbour, scheming siblings and lots more jiggery-pokery.
This three-act play resolves around the members of the Clancy family including widower Patrick Clancy and his three daughters, Marian, Pet and Ducky and an array of friends and neighbours living in a sleepy little town in rural Ireland. Everything is set to change in the lives of the family members.
Emotions and tensions run high as Patrick waits patiently for his urgent cataract operation (some things never change). The delay disrupts plans for his eldest, highly capable (though sometimes prissy) daughter Marian to join the nuns. While she waits to enter the convent, Marian rules the roost to ensure her two fun-loving younger siblings, Pet and Ducky concentrate more on their school work and music lessons.
However, fate intervenes and the dynamics in the Clancy household are set to irreversibly change. Marian’s vocation to become a nun hit a snag. Blissfully unaware, she gets caught in the crossfire between the romantic attentions of melancholic Harold Mahony and the energetic, ambitious, young and devilishly handsome new man in town, Pierce Hegarty.
First produced 96 years ago (1928), the play was a staple of the Abbey Theatre’s repertoire for decades. By 1970 alone, the play had 37 revivals in the Abbey theatre. Interestingly, its April 1970 production drew public protests crying: “The Abbey should be producing plays that relate to more modern Irish life” and “The Abbey directors are over the hill”.
Despite the protests, that year the Irish Times, gave the play a hugely positive review, stating that “most theatrical productions in London’s West End would be surpassed by the likes of acting seen in ‘The Far-Off Hills”.
If you’re planning to come to the play, no booking necessary. Simply arrive in Kiltoom Parish Hall before the 8pm prompt start time and pay at the door on the night from Thursday, March 21st to Sunday, March 24. Apologies, cash only payment at the door. Looking forward to seeing you.