Our latest inhouse production is the Pat McCabe classic Frank Pig Says Hello. We opened at the Brian Friel Theatre at Queen’s University, Belfast last weekend and enjoyed standing ovations and great feedback from the audience.
Our tour continued last night in Monaghan in the Garage Theatre, very appropriate as the venue is named after The Butcher Boy, the novel that Frank Pig Says Hello is based on. In The Butcher Boy, Francie’s mother has a breakdown and he says she has gone into the Garage to get it fixed. (The theatre is located in a disused ward in St Davnet’s Psychiatric Hospital, Monaghan).
First performed in 1992, Frank Pig Says Hello tells the story of a young man’s breakdown in a rural Irish town. Challenging but rewarding, humorous yet harrowing, Frank Pig Says Hello is at times breath taking, often haunting and always hugely entertaining. It features an inventive fusion of storytelling and role play where over 30 characters are played by two versatile actors in a highly theatrical experience that is frequently very funny and occasionally shocking.
Directed by David Grant, it features local actor Patrick McBrearty in his professional stage debut and fellow Central School of Drama graduate Stefan Dunbar. Patrick will be familiar to An Grianán regulars as he made his way through the amateur ranks in productions such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Philadelphia, Here I Come before moving to London to become a professional actor.
This is Stefan Dunbar’s first role in an An Grianán production. Stefan comes from an acting background (his uncle is well known theatre and TV actor Adrian Dunbar) and he has appeared in many roles at his local theatre, the Ardhowen in Enniskillen.
We’ll be doing four dates in Donegal staring this Saturday 20 Sept right here in An Grianán, then we’ll be in the Abbey Centre, Ballyshannon on Wed 1 October, Glenties Community Centre on Fri 3 and we have our last night back at An Grianán on Sat 4 October.
Check out this link for a piece about Stefan Dunbar in the Impartial Reporter and here’s a piece by Sean Feeny from Monday’s Donegal News.
Find out more about the production here.
Tour Dates
Sat 20 September at 8pm
Mon 22 September at 11am
Sat 4 October at 8pm
An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny
Box Office 074 912 0777
Fri 12 and Sat 13 September at 7.30pm, Tues 23 Sept at 7.30pm
The Brian Friel Theatre, 20 University Square, Belfast, BT7 1NN
Booking 028 9097 1382 or studentshows@qub.ac.uk
Tues 16 September at 8pm
The Garage Theatre, Old Armagh Road, Monaghan
Box Office 047 81597
Thur 18 September at 8pm
Ardhowen Theatre, 97 Dublin Road, Derrychara, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, BT74 6FZ
Box Office 028 663 25440
Wed 24 September at 8.30pm
Backstage Theatre, Farneyhoogan, Longford
Box Office 043 3347888
Thur 25 September at 8pm
Market Place Theatre, Market St, Armagh BT61 7BW
Box Office 028 3752 1821
Fri 26 September at 8.30pm
Droichead Arts Centre, Stockwell St, Drogheda, Co. Louth
Box Office 041 9833946
Sat 27 September at 8pm
Roscommon Arts Centre, Circular Rd, Roscommon
Box Office 090 662 5824
Tues 30 September at 8.30pm
The Dock, St Georges Terrace, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim
Box Office 071 96 50828
Thur 2 October at 8pm
The Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple Street, Sligo
Box Office 071 9161518
Donegal Bay & Bluestacks Festival 2014
Wed 1 Oct at 8.30pm
Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon
Fri 3 Oct at 8.30pm
Glenties Community Centre, Glenties
Box Office 071 9851375
