Ballyskenach Drama Group do a great job with 'racy' play

BALLYSKENACH Drama Group did a great job with their racy play which they performed over three nights last week.
The charming Citeaux Hall, in a rural setting near Mt St Joseph's, enjoyed a full house over the three nights of the Group's production of “Widows Paradise”.
This journalist was very impressed with the acting skills on display and the production values in general.
It was obvious that all the actors were really enjoying acting in this very funny play, with its elements of traditional slapstick and traditional farce. Farce is primarily focussed on generating laughter and Widows Paradise certainly does that. The playwright Sam Cree (who was from Lisburn) was extremely adept at tickling people's funny bone.
Widows Paradise was first performed in 1966 in Belfast Arts Theatre. Nowadays it is incredibly popular across Ireland. It follows five women on a strictly female holiday in a caravan, within a caravan park. The women are determined to prove that they don't need men. The peaceful getaway descends into chaos and mayhem when a group of men arrive to stay in the same caravan after a fishing trip. As the play proceeds, the women's resolve to stay away from men crumbles and they pair off with the men. A lot of the humour lies in the tension between the steely resolve and the extremely strong attraction to the opposite sex.
Betty Murphy did a great job as the exceptionally steely Ruby, the de facto leader of the group of women. Betty expertly portrayed those dominating women that we all know who are also a bit scary and intimidating. Suffice to say, the sexual, softer part of Ruby's nature emerges by the end of the play. At the beginning of the play Ruby says that all five of the women have “suffered at the hands of those miserable creatures we call men.” She says men “are the ruination of all women.” When the four female companions don't live up to her lofty ideals she commands them to stop arguing amongst themselves and reminds them, with considerable force, that they are the gentler sex and therefore should not descend into bickering and arguing. Betty was great at the slapstick scenes. The image of her struggling onto the top bunk bed drew a lot of laughter from the audience.
Sally Carney was excellent at bringing across her character's, Rachel's, fear and sexual repression. Sally's facial expressions and body language skilfully expressed her character's anxiety and timidity. Needless to say, by the end of the play she has cast aside her timid shackles and is determined to fully express her sexuality with her husband, who, after months of a sexless marriage, is delighted with this change of events.
Orlaigh Middleton skilfully embodied Vanessa, skilfully expressing Vanessa's sensuality, flirtatiousness and glamour. Vanessa is constantly aware of presenting herself in a sexually alluring way. She is also looking for a man with plenty of money, a character trait which spectacularly backfires on her by the end of the play.
Mairead King was excellent in the role of the ditsy Lucy who talks about the pleasure of being kissed by a man with a moustache and how her husband-to-be turned out to be already married. She sometimes is guilty of sharing too much about herself with the group and she also bursts into song at inappropriate moments.
During the play Lucy pairs with Ernie who is also somewhat quirky. Ernie is sometimes portrayed as being mentally a bit slow. Gerry McAuliffe intelligently decided to not portray him like that. Instead he played him as a person of normal intelligence, but finds it very hard to hold back his amorous impulses. The de facto leader of the men, Harry, on a number of occasions has to restrain Ernie from acting on his strong attraction for Lucy. At one stage Lucy says she needs a hand getting onto the top bunk. “I will give you a lift up,” Ernie quickly says, obviously with ulterior motives. Harry holds him back.
Harry is a widower who is initially determined to keep the women at arm's length. “We don't want that bevy of beauties to think we are spying on them,” he says to his male companions. To which Ruby retorts that he is “no oil painting” either. It seems that Harry and Ruby dislike one another but during the play they eventually melt and express their mutual attraction. Paddy Delaney did an excellent job portraying Harry, playing him in a sympathetic way, conveying the impression that he is obviously a man trying to be a strong leader but beneath that facade possesses a kind, good nature.
Praise should go to the Director Jimmy Middleton who spent many hours in rehearsals with the actors and didn't get in the way of the central premise of the play – to generate lots of laughs and enjoy a really good evening's entertainment. Francis Fitzgerald should be praised for the stage set as well, which made excellent use of the space on offer.
After the three nights the Group publicly extended a big thank you to all who helped out with the production. “To the Citeaux Hall Committee, parking attendants, raffle ticket sellers, those who helped serving refreshments, front of house crew, videographer, Masters of Ceremony and their devoted and dedicated cast, who put months of tireless work into bringing Sam Cree's 'Widows Paradise' to the stage of the Citeaux Hall, thank you.”
The Group also extended a big thank you to all who attended. “We had amazing audiences,” they said. “Thank you to each and everyone of you for your continued support of our annual productions. To all the sponsors who contribute year in, year out, without your contribution the production would not be possible and we are so grateful for this. Until next year!”
This was the Group's 17th annual production. I should also say that I was glad to see Amhrán na bhFiann being sung by the audience before the play's start, a tradition which I hope will continue long into the future.