Newpoint Players
present


Mary K

by Seán Treanor

Tuesday,
8 March 2022
8.00 p.m.




Important: The theatre doors will close strictly at 8.00!
Please be seated by 7.50.

(Please note: no food or drink will be allowed in the theatre during any performance, as this is a competition.)



The Play

This play tells the story of the eponymous central character Mary Kelly. Mary’s story is based on many anecdotes related to me by my two grandmothers, my paternal and maternal aunts and great-aunts. These relatives gave me an insight into the lives of women, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, when women were still chattels. Class, poverty, emigration, sexual taboos, religion, the law, tradition and superstition all weighed heavily on men and women in Ireland, and even in the U.S., but particularly on women. The stories of these lost, unrecorded individuals still haunt me. It is as restless ghosts never finding sleep and through the character Mary Kelly that I try to relate something of their difficult but (in a minor sense) heroic lives.

The stories I inherited were all from S. Armagh and S. Down, but being a S. Armagh man, I see this play as being set in the stony townlands of my own area, where that peculiar sense of ‘gaelic haunting’ and ‘gaelic memory’ might still be found. I venture to believe that these stories and these ‘hauntings’ are not restricted to my area. I am deeply indebted to the dedicated cast and crew. We hope our story has a resonance for wider audiences.


Seán Treanor



Cast

Mary Kelly (Younger)

Judith Quinn/
Marie-Claire McSwiggan*

Mary Kelly (Older)

Pauline Lynch

Daniel Kelly

Neil Heaney

James Kelly

Lowry Hodgett/
Sean Markey*

Sarah Kelly

Frances Parkes

Eoin McShane

Paddy McGennity/
Conor Doyle*

Philomena McShane

Emily McGlennon

Annie McShane

Frances Morgan

Samuel Wright

Matt Freeman

Mervyn Dodds

Jack Kenny

Peter 'Cat' Boyle

Mark Hughes

Mrs Flynn

Siobhan Carragher/
Sheila Mitchel*

Jemie Dunne

Damian Heaney

Michael Boyle

Paddy Walker

Dr Coates

Donal O'Hanlon

Tom Mooney

Hugh Feenan

Miners/Workers

Rory Hughes
Tom Carville
Members of Cast

Charlie

Courtesy of Clip-Clop Artists

* Indicates where understudies may have had to come in.



Crew

Director

Seán Treanor

Assistant Director

Pauline Lynch

Lighting

Eoin Hannaway

Set / Transport

Donal O'Hanlon
Tom Carville

Make Up

Ezra Davis

Costume

Diane Russell

Sound

Caoimhe Gray

Movement

Leo Reynolds

Music Arrangement

Damian Frame

Musical Director

Manus O'Boyle

Violin

Frances Parkes

The Group

Newpoint Players was formed in 1946 and since then has performed a wide range of plays – from Shakespeare to Shaw – from Synge to Behan – from French Farce to Irish Kitchen Comedy. It is a society which has always transcended boundaries of class, creed and nationality. In its early years there was a great concentration on the classics but in latter times Classics, ancient & modern have predominated. Newpoint Players are at their best when they perform large-scale shows such as the recent productions of Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth. Newpoint was particularly honoured to take part in the Abbeyonehundred celebrations in December 2004. They performed an innovative version of ‘The Shadow of the Glen’ in the Abbey Theatre alongside 3 other top amateur drama groups. Last year the group took “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” to festivals and the current production in rehearsal is “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead”.

From the beginning Newpoint participated in the festival movement north and south and won the All-Ireland Festival in 1958 with Arms and the Man, 1961 with Our Town and 1992 with Marat Sade. In 1991 they won Dundalk International Festival with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

During the summer months, Newpoint operates a youth group which functions throughout the year and has provided the society with a constant supply of new blood many of whom come back to contribute as adults.
Cast Photo


Cast and Crew Photo