Bewley's Cafe Theatre is packed to the gills and the eyes of director Gerry Stembridge are glued to the atmospheric set. He will direct the next lunch-time production here - an adaptation of a Maeve Binchy story, called Excitement. But it is today's performance that is responsible for the crush. A Fishpond All On Fire is having its premiere performance. The play by Tif Eccles will run until Saturday, June 17th. The little venue, which seats 50 at a squeeze, is bursting with well wishers, including actor Felim Drew and Susan Collins, a member of The Nualas comedy trio, who are garnering their own share of congratulations as they plan to wed in September.
Settling down to soup and a sandwich is Bairbre Ni Chaoimh, who is married to the play's director, Michael James Ford. She is just back from Washington DC, where Donal O'Kelly's Catalpa, which was staged as part of the Island Festival at the Kennedy Centre received rave reviews, she says. Gerry Walsh from Ballina, Co Mayo, plays the lead, and brings to life the part of a patient in a psychiatric hospital who is "psychic rather than psychotic," according to the author.