18th to 23nd April.

The Kings of the Kilburn High Road by Jimmy Murphy @ Crown Moran Hotel, Cricklewood @ 7.30pm

In association with the Knockaderry (Limerick) Dramatic Society, the play concerns five Irish expatriate friends who gather in a shoddy back room of their local London pub for a wake. As the alcohol flows, their shared history unfolds.

18th to 23nd April.

The Kings of the Kilburn High Road by Jimmy Murphy
@ Crown Moran Hotel, Cricklewood @ 7.30pm

In association with the Knockaderry (Limerick) Dramatic Society, the play concerns five Irish expatriate friends who gather in a shoddy back room of their local London pub for a wake. As the alcohol flows, their shared history unfolds.

This production marks the first of many joint ventures between London Irish Theatre and theatre companies back in Ireland. Knockaderry (Limerick) Dramatic Society is a small rural group with a passion for drama.

Like so much of Irish literature, the play concerns the mingled love and disdain that many Irishmen have for Ireland. Their situation, self-exiled in a foreign land, away from their roots, yet profoundly anti-English, is complicated by the realisation that, after all these years, the home they knew is not there to return to - all is changed.

Playwright Jimmy Murphy's best skill is his portrayal of characters. Each character is brought to life by the cast; Tom Madigan as the explosively bitter ‘Jap Kavanagh’, leader of the group, a once carefree man who has become, most of all, a frighteningly dedicated drinker; John Lenihan as ‘Shay Mulligan’, a tight-lipped and tightly-wound man with the instinctive belief that he deserves no more than what he's got; Mike Mortell as ‘Git Miller’, a slight, easily bullied man who nonetheless maintains a gentility and conscience; Johnny Corkery as ‘Maurteen Rodgers’, a man so conflicted by anger and regret that he can't give up drinking even though he bears terrible guilt for the cruel violence it engenders in him; and Mike O’Connor as ''the big fella,'' ‘Joe Mullen’, the one successful businessman among them, who purchases the temporary forgiveness of his old friends by oiling the wake with bottle after bottle of Jameson whiskey.

John Dunne, Artistic Director of the London Irish Theatre says “it's a great pleasure to welcome the guys from Knockaderry to London. With a play like 'King's', which is itself set in Kilburn, it is only fitting the production should occupy the  legendary space which is the Crown of Cricklewood.”

London Irish Theatre aims to produce and promote the best of Irish theatre in the capital and beyond and part of that brief is to bring companies over from Ireland to offer them a taste of theatre life in London.

To accommodate theatre patrons from far and wide, the Crown Moran are offering a B&B special. For details contact +44 (0)20 8452 4175 quoting promotion Code:- 307106.
 

Knockaderry Dramatic Society
Drama in Knockaderry goes way back in history, mainly used as a form of raising funds for the local GAA field or the local church. During the late seventies and eighties drama disappeared off the radar in Knockaderry so in 1996 a number of local people with a clear passion for dramatics formed the Knockaderry Dramatic Society. Since then the group have performed each year with plays like Big Maggie, Sive, Many Young Men Of Twenty,Bare Foot In The Park, Out Of Order and The Honey Spike.
Johnny Corkery, Chairman of Knockaderry Dramatic Society, places the success of the group with the openness to attract new members that bring new ideas and new character profiles that make options to performing different plays easier.

2010 will see the group make its maiden voyage to London with The Kings Of The Kilburn High Road. With the combination of professional directorship and the calibre of the play the group felt it was the right time to travel.

The play itself comes at a time when Ireland itself is in a state of flux. The Celtic Tiger has retired into it's den and once again Ireland's greatest export is it's young people. Being based at Camden's London Irish Centre, John Dunne's London Irish Theatre sees at first hand the effects of this new migration as well as the remains of the old. London has plenty of older Irish people who came to England in the late 40's to the 60's in search of work only to find a lifetime down a dirty ditch rewarded with poverty, ill-health and loneliness.  Irish people of all ages and backgrounds will find much in this play to relate to as well as enjoy.

Cast and Company

Tom Madigan (Jap): Our most experienced actor, Tom is finally playing the role of Jap which he has wanted to play for many years. Tom has vast experience with producing/directing and took charge of last year’s production of The Factory Girls. He joined Knockaderry in 2002 and has played the roles of Cannon Pratt in Moll, Doctor Boney in It Runs In The Family, Major Catchpole in Off The Hook, Garda Nolan in Cuckoo Blue and Windy in Anyone Can Rob A Bank.

Johnny Corkery (Maurteen): Chairman and driving force of the drama group, Johnny worked on and off the stage every year since its foundation. Johnny is another man who is playing a role this year that has been a dream of his for a number of years. He made his stage debut as Maurice in Big Maggie back in 1997, played Maurice Brown in Many Young Men Of Twenty, Martin Claffey in The Honey Spike, Ronnie Worthington in Out Of Order and Mike Coffey in Cuckoo Blue. Johnny also produced/directed The Year Of The Hiker, Moll and Off The Hook.

Michael O’Connor (Joe): The “Comedian” within the group, who generates and enjoys the banter during rehersals. This is Michael’s second appearance with Knockaderry Drama Group. He played the part of Rohan in The Factory Girls last year. Has a keen interest in traditional music and has been involved with a local Comhaltas group.

John Lenihan (Shay): This is John’s second appearance with Knockaderry Drama Group. He played the part of Bonner in The Factory Girls last year. He also took time out of his busy rehearsal schedule to perform a sketch with the drama group in the popular Limerick Macra variety show this year. John was a member of an English Drama Group at Frankfurt University and played the part of Michael in Ruffian on the Stairs.

Mike Mortell (Git): This is Mike’s debut with the group and what a find he has been. No stranger to performing on stage but as he says himself “first time having to learn the lines”. Mike has appeared as an extra in Pat Shortt’s Killnaskully and on occasion can perform his own hilarious version of The D-Unbelievables.

Kevin O’Connor (Producer): Kevin O'Connor is a drama facilitator, theatre director, educational drama facilitator and consultant working between Limerick, Belfast, Dundalk, Leitrim and his native Cavan. He is a qualified drama teacher and holds an MA in Drama in Education from Queen’s University, Belfast. Since 1998 Kevin has taught and facilitated a number of educational institutes nationally including University of Limerick, Betty Ann Norton Theatre School, Cavan Institute and Dundalk Institute of Technology. Kevin also acted as Artistic Director of Cavan Youth Drama, a network of sixteen groups located around the County of Cavan.

Jimmy Murphy (Playwright) Jimmy Murphy was born to Irish parents in Manchester in 1962. When he was six, his family returned to Dublin. After failing his Intermediate examinations he left school to persue a career in painting & decorating. After spending fourteen years making a living as a painter/decorator he decided script writing was his future. Some of Murphy's work for the Abbey Theatre include Brothers of the Brush (1993), A Picture of Paradise (1997) and The Muesli Belt (2000). Other works include Aceldama (1998), The Kings of the Kilburn High Road (2000) and The Castlecomer Jukebox (2004) for Red Kettle. He is a former writer in residence at NUI, Maynooth, a member of the Abbey Theatre’s Advisory Council and a recipient of three Bursaries in literature from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. His plays for radio include Mandarin Lime (BBC Radio 4, 1995) and Peel’s Brimstone (BBC Radio 4, 1995). His awards include The Stewart Parker Award in 1994. His play The Kings of the Kilburn High Road was adapted as the Irish language film Kings, and was selected as Ireland’s entry for best foreign-language film for the Academy Awards by the Irish Film and Television Academy.