The drama behind the scenes at a Cork charity

CORK’S oldest charity is set to stage the first public performance by the city’s newest theatre group.

The Cork Penny Dinners High Hopes Theatre Group will perform Behind The Curtain on Sunday, May 14 at the Croí Na Laoí Caitríona Twomey Wellness Centre on James’s St.

The group’s actors, artists, musicians, and writers are united by their iration for the work of the Cork Penny Dinners.

Behind The Curtain is devised and written by cast Philippe Chabalier, Siga Cham, John Lane, Patsy McCarthy and director Marion Wyatt, and was developed during drama workshops facilitated by Marion Wyatt.

The performance includes work from recently published poet Andie McNamara and original music by award-winning composer Jimmy Brockie, and the group will be ed by guest performers Pearse O’Donoghue, Liam O’Chaoimh, Marie Phelan and Aoife O’Keeffe.

The of the group spoke to The Echo after a recent rehearsal and they said Behind The Curtain is immersive theatre and is based on real-life, and their intention is to raise awareness of the services available in the wellness centre, and of the long-standing work of Cork Penny Dinners.

Ms Wyatt, the project’s director, said the performance does not have a clear, clean narrative, but is episodic.

“It was devised and built verbatim around rehearsals and improvisation on lines spoken by of the workshop group that I was working with, and that launched us into some guided improvisation for particular scenes,” she said.

“I discovered that the group we were working with were very willing to take ownership of the project, and, very early on, they started coming up with ideas for the set, such as recycling, and while we’re not in a theatre space, we’re working with that whole thing of having it be like [Brazilian theatre pioneer] Augusto Boal, where it’s almost like invisible theatre, that is happening all around the audience.”

Paul Teegan, who has sung with the High Hopes Choir for a decade or so and who is now a member of the theatre group, said performance has given him a greater confidence and a willingness to communicate with people. 

“Anyone who has been through a homelessness crisis, from sleeping rough on the streets to going in and out of homeless shelters, finds it hard to talk about their experiences,” he said.

Caitríona Twomey, Penny Dinners’ volunteer co-ordinator, said she had known Ms Wyatt a long time, and she attested to the director’s ability to create magic from anything.

“I think, when you have a rawness there, you’ve got a good source to start with, and I believe that is something we have over in Penny Dinners, rawness, because we are dealing with raw issues every single day and we have to work together to make sure everyone is looked after,” Ms Twomey said.

“We have that rawness running through everything we do over in Penny Dinners and I see this as a continuation of what we do in Penny Dinners, because what I want is for people out there who want to be able to do something, and there are so many people here in Cork who haven’t an opportunity, that haven’t a chance to be a part of something, that this can serve as a starting point for some of those people.”

Behind the Curtain is hopeful, and that hope had inspired the performance, Ms Wyatt said.

“Fundamentally, it is a performance piece; it entertains and it educates, it’s not slapping you over the head,” she said.

Behind the Curtain debuts on Sunday, May 14, with two performances, a matinee at 3pm and an evening show at 8pm, at the Croí Na Laoí Caitríona Twomey Wellness Centre on James’s St, just up the laneway from Penny Dinners’ Little Hanover St premises.

The play deals with adult themes that some people may find disturbing and the organisers say the event is not suitable for under-15s, nor for the vulnerable. The performances are free, but are ticketed via Eventbrite, and spaces are limited, so book early.