The REAL reason behind China’s “Zero Covid” policy 22:40 Dec 07 0 comments August Socialist Voice is Out Now! 10:23 Aug 21 0 comments Vol 2 Issue 21 of New LookLeft magazine in shops now! 23:56 May 28 0 comments Media Condemn Presidential Insult but Not Austerity 00:22 Feb 02 0 comments It's a Wonderful Life 12:31 Dec 24 1 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireNorth Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi? US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty
Human Rights in IrelandPromoting Human Rights in Ireland
Lockdown Skeptics
News Round-Up Mon Jan 27, 2025 01:16 | Richard Eldred
Police Officers Told Not to Say ?Black Sheep? or ?Blacklisted? Over Racism Fears Sun Jan 26, 2025 19:03 | Richard Eldred
Trump?s Rise Marks the End of Progressive Utopianism Sun Jan 26, 2025 17:00 | Richard Eldred
Tories Demand Right for Parents to Know What Children Are Taught in Schools Sun Jan 26, 2025 15:00 | Richard Eldred
Deadly Delays: MHRA?s Shameless Failure to Investigate Vaccine Deaths Sun Jan 26, 2025 13:00 | Dr Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionVoltaire, International Newsletter #117 Fri Jan 24, 2025 19:54 | en The United States bets its hegemony on the Fourth Industrial Revolution Fri Jan 24, 2025 19:26 | en For Thierry Meyssan, the Sarkozy trial for illegal financing of the 2007 preside... Fri Jan 24, 2025 19:23 | en Should we condemn or not the glorification of Nazism?, by Thierry Meyssan Wed Jan 22, 2025 14:05 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N?116 Sat Jan 18, 2025 06:46 | en |
The Cowboys by Peter Trant - Ramor Theatre Fri. & Sat. October 20th. & 21st. - Phone: 049 8547074
cavan |
arts and media |
press release
Wednesday August 23, 2017 12:44 by P.T.
Review by Bernadette Ó Huiginn . “The Cowboys”, written and directed by Peter Trant, is a dramatic and highly entertaining play set in a fictional town somewhere along the border. It tells a complex, darkly humorous tale of love, betrayal and revenge. After many years, away, the protagonist, Bobby Courtney, returns to his hometown for his father’s funeral. Old animosities between him and his nemesis, Johnny Murtagh, the Meat Factory Manager, bubble ominously to the surface. Two Meat Factory Workers, Sonny and Phil, observe it all. At first this duo, with their laugh-out-loud humour, appear to be outside the action, almost like a Greek chorus, but we soon realize that they are, in fact, central to events as they unfold. Behind their banter, oblique clues hint at horrors past and to come. A sense of menace permeates the action right from the beginning and tension builds inexorably as the plot moves to its shocking climax. As director, Trant has a sure mastery of the elements that go into creating a strong piece of theatre and he works them skilfully in this production. He shows a great understanding of stagecraft, never letting the pace falter and using the minimalist sets and lighting to very good advantage. As writer, Trant has created a cast of vividly drawn characters. Those in the pivotal roles of Bobby and Johnny, and especially, Silk Cut Sonny and Big Phil were excellent. These last two are superb creations and, as inhabited by Pat Deery as Sonny and Dennis O’Hagan as Phil, they were totally convincing. Pat Deery’s gripping performance was a stand-out. The play is greatly enlivened by dialogue that manages a colourful verve without losing plausibility. It is rich in the pungent local idioms of the northern borderlands. |