Druid journeys back to 1990s with The Cavalcaders
He’s best known for his acting work with Druid but Aaron Monaghan is now taking on the role of director with the company for a new production of Billy Roche’s 1993 play, The Cavalcaders. It will open in Druid’s Mick Lally Theatre in late May before going on a national tour.
The Cavalcaders is a comic, wistful portrait of a small town in pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland and the men who live there. Terry and his friends Josie, Rory and Ted spend their days as cobblers and their nights as The Cavalcaders, a barbershop quartet of local renown. But life has taken its toll on Terry and past betrayals cast long shadows.
For this journey back to the 1990s, with its plot of heartache, companionship and the redemptive power of song, the singing cast will include Garrett Lombard, Naoise Dunbar, Sean Kearns, Éilish McLaughlin and Tiernan Messitt-Greene.
Aaron and Garret are both members of the Druid Ensemble – a group of actors which regularly works with the company.
The Cavalcaders was originally commissioned by Druid’s Artistic Director Garry Hynes in 1991, when she was Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, and the playwright feels that Druid’s decision to stage a new production “is all the more fitting” in that light.
Garry describes the play, which premiered on the Peacock stage of the Abbey in 1993, as “a tender portrait of Irish society on the precipice of great change”.
Billy Roche’s work has been a constant inspiration to Aaron Monaghan throughout his career, and Aaron states that the Wexford playwright has had a “profound effect” on the Irish theatre landscape.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be taking on this beautiful play, directing for the first time for a company I love dearly, with an astonishingly gifted cast and crew.”
Ciarán Bagnall is in charge of Set and Lighting Design, Sound Design and Composition is by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Costume Design is by Clíodhna Hallissey and Morgan Cooke is Musical Director.
The Cavalcaders will be staged in the Mick Lally Theatre from May 20- June 4 , with dates in Dún Laoghaire’s Pavilion Theatre from June 29-July 2. Further details of the national tour will be available soon. Booking for Druid is at www.druid.ie.