Comedy Now and Then on stage in Mayo this Good Friday

HARVEST Moon Theatre Group bring their multi-award winning comedy play Now and Then to Claremorris Town Hall Theatre on Good Friday night, March 29.

In the play, a young barman, Jamie, is closing up one night in 1981, and waiting for his girlfriend Abby, when an older man comes in for a quick one. The man tells them that he just wants to stay a while, have a drink and that he will then leave quietly.

Soon the man makes Jamie and Abby a ridiculous offer - one that is very tempting. And he tells them a story, which seems unbelievable. When another stranger arrives, the unbelievable suddenly seems like it might just be true.

Will they accept the offer, and if they do, what will the consequences be?

This is a cracking story about love, following your dreams (or not) and the costs of the decisions we make. The play is suitable for all ages.

Sean Grennan’s play was originally set in an Irish bar in Chicago in 1981. Harvest Moon’s presentation is an Irish adaptation of the play, by John Corless.

“I liked the play as soon as I read the script,” Corless told The Connaught Telegraph. “The only reservation I had was that it was set in an Irish bar the US, and I felt that setting the play in Ireland would be more compelling.

“I contacted playwright Sean Grennan, whose ancestors are from Co. Offaly, and enquired about relocating it to Ireland. He asked what I was proposing; I told him and he asked me to send a draft. He responded very positively to my setting the play in Mayo.”

Harvest Moon Theatre Group is based in Claremorris. The cast of Now and Then is made up of Rosemary Dixon, Vera Kilgallon, Kevin Woods and John Morley.

Rosemary Dixon was part of Garrymore Drama Group for many years and is no stranger to local audiences. Vera Kilgallon, from Mayo Abbey, is an All-Ireland winning actress. Kevin Woods is a native of Roscommon and John Morley is originally from Bekan, and now living in Oranmore.

The play is directed by John Corless.

Tickets for the Claremorris show are available from the Town Hall Theatre box office, or online at https://townhall.ie/. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone on (094) 9310999.

The play commences at 8 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m. The theatre will operate a full bar on the night.