Outside Mullingar is like a pint of Guinness; dark and strong, nourishing for the spirit and leaving you wanting more!
Be transported to rural Ireland to witness the simple, but complicated lives of two families, the Reilly’s and the Muldoon’s whose farmsteads are adjacent to one another nestled in the green hills. Outside Mullingar is a warm and fuzzy romantic comedy, full of Irish charm and wit. Despite being darkened with rivalries, stubbornness and feuds, it is primarily about love and is humorous and charming. Directed by Rod Felsh, the stoic dark wit is laced with Irish patter and a generous helping of the craic, as you watch the lives unfold of four decent hardworking country folk.
Rosemary and Anthony have grown up playing together, yet in their 40s, neither have married. Rosemary has set her sights on the shy and introverted Anthony, who would rather spend his days out in the fields, than in the company of another person, especially Rosemary. Rosemary suspects that Anthony may never marry, after breaking up with his first love decades before. Little does she know that he avoids her as he buzzes about his farm, because he hides a much darker secret.
Three of the cast of four are Irish, which along with a well designed set (Tristan, Rhyll, Myles and Henry), helps to recreate the Emerald Isle where the conversation is mostly divided between two kitchens and a cow shed, but always over a cup of tea or a Guinness. Actor Patrick Farrelly plays Anthony Reilly, a shy, but soft hearted introspective farmer. Patrick’s melodious soft Irish voice recreates a pooh bear type of character, who is kind, simple and loveable, and even partial to a bit of honey! Tony Reilly (Brian Hinselwood) is Anthony’s stubborn aging father, who causes controversy by not wanting to leave his farm to his “lump of a good for nothing son.” Penny Murphy played by Aoife Muldoon, a founding member of the CTG, tries to smooth things over between the two men for a bit of peace. However, her fiery carefree daughter Rosemary (Meg Hinselwood), likes to stoke the fire, as punishment to Anthony over a childhood disagreement.
Written by John Patrick Stanley, the author of Doubt and Moonstruck, the Centenary Theatre Group’s production of Outside Mullingar is like a pint of Guinness; dark and strong, nourishing for the spirit and leaving you wanting more!
Outside Mullingar written by John Patrick Stanley, presented by
The Centenary Theatre Group and Directed by Rod Felsch
21st Sept-6th Oct, 2018
Centenary Community Theatre, Chelmer
By Dr Gemma Regan