From panto chorus girl to international acclaimed author

By Tom Gillespie

TWO years before she wrote her first novel at the age of 15, international renowned author, and Castlebar native, Sally Rooney was part of the 26-member junior chorus of Castlebar Pantomime group.

That year (2002) they staged ‘King Arthur’, with Moneen native Michael Rice (RIP) taking the leading role.

The other members of the junior chorus were June Healy, Karen Bourke, Shauna Roberts, Ciara McGowan, Brian O'Mahony, Brenda O'Donovan, Maria McMahon, Lyndsey Brown, Stephanie Forde, Edel Horan, Cormac McGowan, Ciaran Chalk, Niamh McDonald, Nessa McGarrigle, Sarah Maloney, Mairead McManamin, Tracy Hall, Emma Prendergast, John Tighe, Sara Jennings, Jason Joyce, Tara Corbett, Eva Donohue, Orla O'Hara, Catherine McManamin, Tara Gavin and Trina Gannon.

Sally, who is renovating a house in the county, completed her first novel in 2003, which she has described as ‘absolute trash’. She began writing ‘constantly' in late 2014.

She completed her debut novel, ‘Conversations with Friends’, while still studying for her masters degree in American literature. She wrote 100,000 words of the book in three months.

It was followed by ‘Norman People’, published in 2018, and adapted into a 2020 top rated television series.

The book became a best-seller in the US, selling almost 64,000 copies in hardcover in its first four months of release. Her latest novel, ‘Beautiful World, Where are You’, will be published next month.

Sally’s work has garnered critical acclaim and commercial success, and she is regarded as one of the foremost Millennial writers. In 2017 she was named The Sunday Times Young Writer of theYear.

Filming of the Normal Peope series took place in Dublin and Co. Sligo, directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal played Marianne and Connell, respectively. The series earned four Emmy Award nominations.

The team behind ‘King Arthur’ consisted of Sharon Lavelle (producer), Tony Varley (director), John Flatley (musical director) and Jason Guthrie (choreographer).

Among the cast of familiar faces were a few newcomers, Mossie McLoughlin who the previous year helped out backstage, but in ‘King Arthur’ he was centre stage in the role of Lancelot, and Sally Lavin. Some other faces had returned from an absence, like John Gavin, who was cast in the role of Guinevere. Micheal Tolan played Squirt, Sinead O'Donnell was Olivia, Donna Carter was Morgana and Denise Roddy was Mordred while Karen Conway played Merlin.

The revived Castlebar Pantomime celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2005. It is possible, however, that this achievement may never have occurred if not for the talented, resourceful people who previously stood on the stage of the town hall from 1951 to 1965. Castlebar Pantomime has a tradition which goes back as far as 1922 with a Stephen Garvey production of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.

Covid-19 forced the committee to cancel the January 2021 production. A decision has yet to be taken if panto 2022 will proceed.

The year 1951 saw Jimmy Garvey follow in his brother Stephen’s footsteps to produce ‘Cinderella’. The story goes that there was no need to advertise a second pantomime in 1952. Such was the success of ‘Cinderella’ once the word was out that Jimmy was putting on ‘Robinson Crusoe’ the crowds arrived from near and far. The most pressing problem that year was selecting a cast due to the sheer volume of interest.

Names like Andy McTigue, Herbie Glynn, Gussie Wynne, Mary Ainsworth, Henry and Donald Downes began their association with Castlebar Pantomime.

In 1953 Jimmy Garvey produced ‘Aladdin’ and then we enter the Andy McTigue era of directing Castlebar Pantomime with 'The Enchanted Danny’ in 1954, 'Mother Goose’ in 1955, ‘Ali Baba’ in 1956, ‘Sinbad and The Sailor’ in 1957, and 'Goody Two Shoes’ in 1958. Names like Seamus Chambers, Beatrice Conway, Mattie Armstrong, Tom McGreal, Pearse Carney and Brid McCarthy joined the panto ranks.

Herbie Glynn told a tale of a frying pan which was used by Mother Goose but which did not survive the first half of the show intact. A replacement for the second half had to be found rapidly. McNeela's bakery was then located directly in front of the town hall and one of the McNeela sisters proudly returned with a cast iron frying pan. What should have been a gentle tap on the head from a cast iron frying pan turned into a forceful whack, which left poor Herbert seeing stars while the cast collapsed in tears of laughter around him.

In 1960 Joe Twiggs branched out to direct a Castlebar Pantomime favourite - ‘Cinderella’. He was aided by Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. O'Brien and Ms. Angela Corcoran who were in charge of the musical arrangements and Mrs. J. Langan as choreographer.

In 1961 ‘Dick Whittington and His Cat’ was produced by Garry Black. The following year brought ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’ to the stage through the combined efforts of Rev. Cecil Norman and Anton Condon. Anton, I understand, joined pantomime in 1957 and went on to produce many more shows with his late brother Richard from the mid-to late '60s.

Judge John Garavan took over the director's chair in 1963 with ‘King McKeown and The Banshee’. This was written by Herbie Glynn who had moved away from Castlebar. 1964 was also a Garavan production of ‘Babes in the Wood’. Along with Val Donegan, Angela Denning, Christy Tynan, Padraig Flynn, Colette and Patricia Earls who appeared in this production was one Nan Monaghan, who is known as the Queen of Castlebar Pantomime.