Drama group in Offaly brings 'The Kings of the Kilburn High Road' to life

BANAGHER Drama Group moved away from recent comedies and chose a more serious play for their 2025 offering and it proved to be a very good choice.

Jimmy Murphy's 'The Kings of the Kilburn High Road' is a thought provoking play, focusing on a particular era and generation of Irish people, who left home with dreams of making a success of life but often ended up leading very tough lives.

It is a poignant story filled with sadness but one that would resonate with many people. For some it would have been difficult to watch as they would have known men who went away from home and often never came back, some never to be heard of again.

The cast under the direction of Brendan Hanamy were finely tuned and captured the tension, heartbreak and anguish of the unfolding story with excellent characerisations and acting.

The story focuses on the story of six young men who left the West of Ireland in the mid 1970s with dreams of making their fortune in London. It is now 25 years later and one of their number, Jackie, has died tragically and the remaining five gather together in the back room of an Irish bar in Kilburn for his wake.

It is a scene so often played out over the years. Of the five remaining men, two have their own families, two are still single, while the fifth, Joe, is the only one to have enjoyed any real success, setting up his own company and now employing 12 men. Joe doen't keep in touch as much with the group as previously, but the other four regularly meet up in the pub and drink and sing songs about home.

Jackie's death has hit them hard. They remembered the six young lads who travelled to London with such great dreams of making their money and then going home again. But now 25 years on the late Jackie is the first one to make it home, but in a coffin, and all the rest are still in London. Maurteen said he only intended staying two years but was waiting for someone else to make the first move home and he would follow – only to discover that the rest of them were also waiting for someone else to make the first move.

While it was a very serious play, there were some light hearted moments and humour as well, but it wasn't overplayed and fitted nicely into the story. They were happy reminiscences of their early days and the fun they had together but Shay reminds them it wasn't all rosy and that the six of them were sharing two beds in a small flat.

There was a lot of strong language but that added authenticity to the play as it was the way men like these would have spoken together and probably still do now.

Overall it was a strong social commentary that reflected on a generation of Irish men who left home and endured many struggles in life. It was the era before mobile phones, cheap flights home and video calls like nowadays when people can keep in touch much easier. Back then visits home were often just for “births, deaths and marriages”, described by Jap as “obligations” rather than true visits home. Others lost contact when family died and never made the journey back across the Irish Sea and were often effectively lost in the huge metropolis of London.

It was a story that tugged at the heart strings and director Brendan Hanamy can take credit for that. The all male cast of five all had their own individual characteristics and the interaction among them was excellent, whether arguing and fighting, or just remembering the better times. The underlying tension at times was palpable and was played very well. But overall there was an inherent sadness there in all the characters, despite their efforts to show the world that all was well.

Jap Kavanagh was the most volatile of all the characters. Played by Patrick Byrne, who was making his debut with Banagher Drama Group, Jap announces he is moving home “after Cheltenham” but they've all heard that before. Jap plays the big man, making out he has made plenty of money, but his anger is never far from the surface. Patrick got the heart of the type of character we've all seen in a pub and he portrayed the conflicting emotions of the character with great energy and fire.

Maurteen Rogers is another troubled soul. He is a heavy drinker and that has led to problems at home with his wife, which sees him declaring he is off the drink at the start of the play. However he is persuaded by the others to join them in memory of Jackie and he can start “tomorrow”. By the end of the play his old demons are re-emerging. Dave Boylan gave a strong portrayal of the character, who was moody and angry, but who enjoyed the company of his old friends.

Brendan Dolan played the role of Git Miller. Often cast in the role of peacemaker between his feuding colleagues, he reminded them they were there to remember Jackie and was the first to try and get the sing song going. He and Jap shared a flat but times were getting harder as they got older. Brendan was an assured hand in bringing the character to life and had strong presence on stage.

Shay Mulligan is a little more reserved than some of the other characters, even if there is an underlying resentment, and Sean Dolan portrayed that with great effect. Soon to become as grandfather as his 17 year old daughter is pregnant, Shay scoffs at talk of any of them going back to Ireland. He tells them that England is their home now as they have spent more of their lives there and they should accept that. Sean's depiction of the character was strong and commanding.

Joe Mullen is the only one of the original group to have done well. He drives a big car and owns his own company but there is some resentment and anger, particularly from Jap, that he didn't do more to help the rest of them when he started to do well. Jared Madden played the role of “the big man” well, telling them he was paying for all the food and drink for the day. He showed an angry side as well when telling Jap he didn't employ any Irish because they weren't good workers and was a strong all round performance by Jared.

The performance was very well received by a full house and got a deserved ovation at the end.

Cast

Joe – Jared Madden; Maurteen – Dave Boylan; Git – Brendan Dolan; Jap – Patrick Byrne; Shay – Sean Dolan.

Production

Director – Brendan Hanamy; Stage Manager – Clare Lynch; Set design & construction – Padraig Donohoe, Ken Lucas, Patrick Regan, Ronnie Byrne, Paul Buchanan; Set Decoration – Lyn Lyons, Patrick Regan, Cora Stronge Smith, Ruth Lynch, Fiona Lynch; Lighting, Sound and Continuity – Ruth Lynch, Mairead Devery; Front of House – Ann Gallagher, Cora Stronge Smith, Sean Corrigan, Maura Flannery, Adrian Staunton, Lorraine Hogan; Backstage & make up – Angela Reynolds, Janelle Robinon, Gemma White, Fiona Lynch, Lyn Lyons; Photography & Social Media – Dave Boylan; Signage & Programme – Liam Moran, Dave Boylan, Ruth Lynch.