A host of shows across West Cork and beyond will bring some light relief over the coming weeks
BY MARTIN CLAFFEY
IN these most trying of times, sometimes it can be hard to find some wholesome family fun to capture a feelgood spirit as Christmas approaches. Can anything provide that escape from reality? Oh yes it can.
The power of panto is in its ability to bring people into a fairytale world, forget their troubles and let their inner child run free. Across West Cork, thousands of people will attend pantomime this year, from big-budget city productions to smaller, all-hands-on-deck events at the heart of local communities.
The Glengarriff panto is one such local event, which has grown and grown. And grown. It’s apt that this year’s production is Jack and the Beanstalk, written by local woman Maggie Frame and directed by Ger O’Sullivan, which took place in the Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff.
‘We started out 22 years ago, and we have only missed one year, because of covid,’ said Ger. Their first show was The Little Drummer Boy. ‘The first performances were in the community hall, but as the show got bigger, in the last seven or eight years we moved to the Eccles Hotel.’
The Glengarriff panto is made possible with help from right across the community. The stage is stored in Bantry, and with the help of Andrew O’Sullivan and Drinagh Co- Op, the stage is transferred to the Eccles and reconstructed with the help of a team of carpenters. This year more than 150 schoolchildren took part in the show, with kids from Glengarniff, Derrycreha, Coomhola, Adrigole, and Bantry all taking part.
‘We have so many children involved we’ve split them into two different performances,’ says Ger. Local GP Dr Aisling Morris is a great supporter of local theatre and helps get the children ready for the big show.
Meanwhile, it’s not quite panto but the performances of Annie at Clonakilty’s Sacred Heart School has been wowing audiences, proving a sellout smash with school audiences and the public in the town.
Way out West, Treasure Island is taking place at Lehanmore Community Centre, preceeded by Óisín in Tír na nÓg. It runs on Friday December 8th, Saturday December 9th, and on Friday December 15th, and Saturday December 16th. This is the 10th year where the panto will be performed at the Lehanmore Community Centre, after a covid-enforced lay-off, and it has grown and grown in popularity, says Treasure Island writer Carina McNally.
‘The very first year we did was Cinderella, and we didn’t know if we would get anybody even for the first night. But it was a huge success, so we had to put on another show, and then we had to put it on for another weekend.’
Tír na nÓg is put on by the children, with Treasure Island featuring the adults, but the entire event is suitable for all the family. Treasure Island is an apt play to perform, says writer Carina McNally. ‘We’re certainly one of the most westerly theatres,’ says Carina.
‘We’re right beside the Atlantic, overlooking the Mizen, by the Dursey cable car.’
The show features young Paraic O’Neill, who appeared as an extra in the award-winning short film Two For The Road. Huge work goes into making the show, from the work Natalie O’Meara, who runs the dance school Colts and Fillies Academy of Performing Arts in Castletownbere, and Julie Rue O’Sullivan with the kids to the behind-the-scenes staff working on the set and making costumes.
‘It’s great fun and it’s a phenomenal success for the centre. Every year it has packed out hall and this has helped to keep the hall open.’
Indeed selling out the 90-seater hall helps to keep it available for use for the entire community, with everything from card playing to yoga taking place there, with the all available for even more activities. The panto is a great community event for the entire Garnish community, and visitors are more than welcome. For panto booking contact 027-73911.
While Jack and the Beanstalk is attracting more than 1,000 theatre goes to the Eccles Hotel, the beloved tale is also this year’s Cork Opera House panto, starring Frank Mackey as Nanny Nellie.
Opening on December 2nd, a run of more than 70 shows will see more than 60,000 visitors to the venue. ‘It’s been 14 years since the last ‘Jack’ at Cork Opera House and this production promises to be our biggest panto yet,’ said director Trevor Ryan.
There’s a relaxed matinee performance on December 13th and for schools on December 14th at 11am. See www.corkoperahouse.ie/whats-on/jackand-the-beanstalk-panto-2023/
Irene Warren, Graham McDermott, Andrew Lane, Fionula Linehan, Michael Sands, Padraic DiFusco, Marion Goggin, Phil O’Callaghan, Jamie O’Leary, Chloe Riordan, star in Beauty and the Beast which opens at the Everyman in Cork on Saturday December 2nd. see everymancork.com (Photo: Miki Barlok)Across the river, at the Everyman Palace theatre and it’s a hectic time for Ian Brown from Kinsale. He’s the production manager at the Everyman busy coordinating Beauty and the Beast, this year’s Everyman panto, directed by Catherine Mahon-Buckley and featuring Marion Goggin, Fionula Lenihan, Andrew Lane and Michael Sands.
‘It’s extremely busy beforehand, but it’s a case of getting the show ready – once you have it right, in many ways it’s extremely calm because you’re doing the same show.’
A team of around 20 are involved backstage in keeping the show on the road, from set designers to sound and lighting technicians. There’s an audio-described performance on Friday January 5th, an Irish sign language show on Saturday January 6th, and a relaxed performance on January 14th. Tickets are available from www. everymancork.com. To get tickets for accessible performances, email [email protected].
Dominic MacHale (centre) joins Laura O'Mahony, Laura Harte, Declan Wolfe, and John McCarthy in the Improv Panto.
In Cork city, there’s also two shows aimed at adults, with the Improv Panto running at Cork Opera House from nighttime shows from Friday December 8th. The show as the name suggests, improvised, and promises a different show every night, with a cast including Dominic MacHale from The Young Offenders. See www.cork operahouse.ie/ whats-on/the-improv-panto-2023/.
In the Spailpin Fanach, the adult panto Sleeping Beauty is running right through to the middle of January, a riot of double entendre and mayhem. It features Andrew McCarthy in the role of Prince Jack, and Andrew’s family hail from Kilbrittain. See pantotickets.org/o/1.
