Galway Advertiser 1998/1998_03_05/GA_05031998_E1_027.pdf 

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GALWAY'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - EDITED BY JEFF O'CONNELL

have the S a w Doctors and
If y o u hurry, y o u j u s t m i g h t m a k e it!

pint of H a r p , plea
Of course the distance might be a bit of a problem, but then getting to the gig is always at least half the fun of the whole thing. And there are, after all, direct flights to Washington DC, where Galway's own Saw Doctors are due to take the stage Saturday night, March 7, the first stop in a helter-skelter tour that sees the Tuam band take in Chicago on March 13 Boston on March 15 and the prestigious Irving Plaza in the Big Apple itself on March 16 for an eve of St Patrick' Day show. The band's March tour of the States coincides with the fantastic news that the Guinness Corporati in Connecticut has chosen the Saw Doctors stirring song 'Never Mind The Strangers' for a major radio promotion for the Harp lager brand throughout the United States. The 60-second radio advertisement will feature a verse and the chorus from song and during a four week period in February and March, Guinness will spend in excess of half a million dollars buying radio slots for the ad American cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and New York Last week the Harp / Saw Doctors ad was featured during the Howard Stem radio show on WXRK 92.3 radio station in New York City. You just can't get any cooler than Howard. Of course, as fans know, Never Mind The Strangers is taken from the first Saw Doctors American album, 'Sing A Powerful Song', released last November by the New York based Paradigm record company. Reviewing the 'greatest hits' compi lation, Geoffrey Himes in the Washington Post described the band as "one of the world's most appealing root rock outfits' Geoff, we already knew that. More good news is that the television network CNN will feature the Saw Doctors in its Travel Guide programme on Saturday March 14. Last September a CNN crew filmed the Saw Doctors playing session in Tigh Neachtain, as well as following the band as they visited their favourite Galway haunts. If you want to keep up with what the Saw Doctors an doing, check out the band's web site - Http:/www.enter prise.net/saw doctors.

'The Whiteheaded Boy' a t T o w n Hall
T H E A T R E ist audience. It's just that the nuances are a mite different. As you might expect from Barabbas, a Company presents its hugely theatre company that has as much in com successful production of Lennox mon with the fine art of the clown as the Robinson's The Whiteheaded Boy at Stanislavsky method, they've made a few , the Town Hall Theatre from Monday changes here and there. For one thing, instead of the small M a r c h 9 to Wednesday March 1 1 . And believe me, this is no ordinary crowd-like cast envisaged by Robinson, there are only four Barabbas-ites taking all production! Most people who know Robinson's play the roles. Which means that sometimes an probably do so from the frequent produc actor will be talking to him/herself. Second, tions of this classic Irish comedy that have the Barabbas-ites are very physical players, been put on over the years by amateur the which means that mere's a lot going on atre companies scattered throughout the during the play. And I mean a lot. And then country. Ever since it first was staged in there's the language, that peculiar blend of 1916 at the Abbey, it has enjoyed great Synge-speak and Kiltartanese transformed popular success, and it's not hard to under by Robinson into, as Shakespeare might put stand why. It's a well-constructed, tightly- it, 'Something rich and strange'. Well, in plotted three-acter, with good meaty roles the hands of Barabbas, it becomes mighty for a half dozen or more actors and actress strange, and the rich vein of humour es. There are no loose ends, and by the time deliberate or not - is mined with dynamite. If you add, finally, that the whole thing the curtain falls on Act Three we know the fates of every single one of the different is directed by the wildly imaginative characters. The fact that the play has a nar writer/director Gerry Stembridge of Scrap rator - shades of Our Town - means that Saturday fame (a moment of silence for the there's never any ambiguity about who's late, very much lamented Dermot Morgan....), then it's not hard to understand just come out on stage. Ah, but times have changed and so have why The Whiteheaded Boy played to audiences. In the post-Beckett age. the packed houses in Dublin last autumn, and Murphy age and the McDonagh age, the took Cork by storm this week. As it is more than likely Galway is in for concept of the Irish play has moved on somewhat since 1916. This is not to say some storm-force laughter, you'd be that the very considerable virtues of advised to book your tickets at the Town Robinson's play have suffered any loss of Hall as soon as possible (091 S69777). their power to hold the attention of a post modernist, post-and-pre-and deconstuction-

An Taibhdhearc kicks off seventh decade celebrations with Behan play
GALWEGIANS TEND to forget - well, some of them - that our city is home to one of the oldest established and most famous theatres and companies in Ireland Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe. And this year An Taibhdhearc is getting ready to cele brate the 70th anniversary of its foundation in 1928. An Taibhdhearc has a host of events The founding father of Ireland's first Irish language theatre was Seam us 0 Beim planned for its historic anniversary cele of Oranmore who, together with Professior brations, but first up is Aisteori na Liam 6 Briain of UCG, secured a grant Taibhdheirce's production of Oiche sa from Ernest Blythe, Minister for Finance Reilig , an Irish translation by Sean 6 Cara of Brendan Behan's Richard's Cork Leg, a in the Cosgrave Government. And then, like a gift from the old Irish bawdy, rollicking and irreverent look at gods, along came the flamboyant young Irish life, politics, religion, and just about Mfcheal Mac Liamm6ir, who staged his anything else that takes his fancy. Set own play Diarmaid A gus Grainne as the mostly in a graveyard, it's a kind of stage opening production, with Mac Liammoir party with songs, poetry and lashins' of Brendan's inimitable humour. as Diarmaid. Oiche sa Relig/Richard's Cork Leg is In the years that followed some of Ireland's most famous actors and actresses directed by Eamonn Draper (whom Irish appeared on the stage of An Taibhdhearc, audiences of Fair City will also know as including Siobhain McKenna, Mick Lally Aindreas, a character that was introduced in the series last Christmas) and will be and Maeliosa Stafford. . Amazingly, the Middle Street home of staged at An Taibhdhearc from March 25 An Taibhdhearc was only rented until to 31. 1978 when, at last, it was purchased with It's going to be a great year for An government aid and later modernised, Taibhdhearc and we'll be keeping you reopening on St Patrick's Day in 1988, informed of more events along the way. with a production of An Spalpin Fanach by CriosuMr 0 Floinn.

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