Nomad Productions

In 2008 and again in 2009, for the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival...and yet again in 2010 for a smash hit run in the Tricycle Theatre, London,
Nomad in association with Livin Dred Theatre Company presented the hugely successful
THE DEAD SCHOOL
by Pat McCabe
Directed by Padraic McIntyre

deadschool

Photographs by Brian Farrell

Nominated for 3 Irish Times Theatre Awards

Best Production
Best Actor (Sean Campion)
Best Costume (Maree Kearns)

REVIEWS
UK Reviews

“a feast of madness - a carnival of quirks…dark and often hilarious…surreal and effervescent.* * * * ” Evening Standard

”astonishing theatre and poignant immediacy” Evening Standard

“brave and sumptuously imaginative. It’s guaranteed to baffle but also to beguile.” Evening Standard

“This exuberant Irish company attack the material with such verve we’re quickly bowled over by their invention”
The Stage

“A stunning piece of staging * * *” The Guardian

"There’s also ingenuity, which complements the verbal opulence of McCabe’s writing, and McIntyre’s detailed vision is superbly evoked in Maree Kearns’s marvellously grotty set and Barry McKinney’s skilful lighting." Evening Standard

"Sean Campion’s performance as Raphael, a man traumatised by his past, is meaty and intricate. Nick Lee’s Malachy is touching — anarchic yet humane — and the supporting actors such as Pete Daly and Carrie Crowley are versatile, with Crowley particularly vivid." Evening Standard

“Padraic McIntyre’s stunning production for the Livin’ Dred touring company…transforms the familiar Irish tropes of sanctimony and despair in the sheer force and brilliance of its execution. * * * *” whatsonstage.com

“McCabe paints a vivid and shocking picture of submission and warped sentiment, brilliantly captured in the hollowed-out husk of a heart-breaking, stony-faced performance by Sean Campion * * * *” whatsonstage.com

”An absolutely first class production in every way.” Audience reviewer Kilburncat

“The ensemble acting, timing and characterisation are superb and the dramatisation startlingly imaginative.”
Audience reviewer Kilburncat

“I don’t know how accurately McCabe evokes Ireland. I do know how brilliantly Campion embodies Bell * * * *”
The Times

“Apart from Campion…giving the performance of his life, he and Lee are superbly supported by the quick-changing virtuosity of Carrie Crowley, Gemma Reeves and Peter Daly * * * *” whatsonstage.com

“ A vividly surreal production * * *” The Guardian

Irish Reviews

“This is a very fine, accomplished piece of work."
Peter Crawley, The View

”Full of theatrical ingenuity.”
Peter Crawley, The View

“A very distinct and accomplished work”
Peter Crawley, The View

“It's a corker of a production."
Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent

"The entire cast…give seamlessly terrific support under Padraic McIntyre's direction. But the play is Campion's: the performance is haunting.”
Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent

“An extraordinary cast and a wonderful blinding ensemble.”
Declan Hughes, The View

"Director Padraic McIntyre harnesses the crazy energy of the piece and, with his supreme control over the complex material, creates a coherent and visually arresting production.” Sara Keating, Irish Times

“The production (is) so truthful and contemporary in many ways.”
Medb Ruane, The View

Click on publication to read full reviews...

Evening Standard 265KB

The Stage 155KB

What's on Stage 160KB

The Guardian 666KB

The Times 410KB

SOLT 226KB

Download the review on RTE's the View (28MB IVR)

Read full Irish Times review by Sara Keating (32kb PDF)

Read full Sunday Independent review by Emer O'Kelly (39kb PDF)

~~~~

In this hugely successful collaboration, Nomad and Livin Dred joined forces with Pat McCabe to produce a new adaptation of the play THE DEAD SCHOOL based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name.

The play tells the story of a Head Master Raphael Bell, who having forged a model career in teaching, comes head to head with young teacher Malachy Dudgeon. When Dudgeon joins the staff the two become inextricably engaged in macabre relationship which proves fatal to their fortunes and their sanity.

It's is a rollercoaster of emotion from start to finish. The fast pace of the play is electrified by the character change, the restless movement, dark humor and intense choreographed chaos.

CAST

Sean Campion,
Carrie Crowley,
Eamon Owens,
Peter Daly,
Gemma Reeves,

CREW

Director - Padraic McIntyre
Designer - Maree Kearns
Lighting Design - Barry McKinney
Production Manager - Martin Cahill
Stage Manager - Sophie Flynn
Asst. Stage Manager - Cathy Hegarty
Photographer - Brian Farrell

"Padraic McIntyre, an actor, a director and, it is now abundantly clear, an actor's director has collaborated masterfully with an outstanding cast to plumb every thought and detail of Murphy's play... This is, in the best sense, an intoxicating experience"
The Irish Times, Fri 26th Oct 2007

Pat McCabe

Playwright and novelist Patrick McCabe was born in 1955 in Clones, County Monaghan. He is the author of five novels including The Butcher Boy (1992), a black comedy narrated by a disturbed young slaughterhouse worker, which won the Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction; The Dead School (1995), an account of the misfortunes that befall two Dublin teachers; and Breakfast on Pluto (1998), the disturbing tale of a transvestite prostitute who becomes involved with Republican terrorists. The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. A film adaptation of The Butcher Boy directed by Neil Jordan was first screened in 1996 and Breakfast on Pluto also directed by Neil Jordan was first screened in 2005. His latest novel, Winterwood, was published in 2006, and was named the 2007 Hughes & Hughes/Irish Independent Irish Novel of the Year.

Words from the author...
"I have always wondered what a rawer, more stripped-down version of THE DEAD SCHOOL might look like, as it could be argued that such was the magnificence of the puppetry and colour in the original show (Macnas 1998) that it, paradoxically, simultaneously overwhelmed and buttressed the narrative as it stood. I felt that some of the significance was obscured by the spectacle, just as certain weaknesses were shaded. Having spoken to Barry Mc Kinney and Padraig Mc Intyre, whose work I have great respect for, I (am) extremely excited by the prospect of developing a new version of THE DEAD SCHOOL with them. Another reason for my enthusiasm for the project (is) that, having moved back myself to the midlands area some time ago, I have been struck by the beginnings of a new creative energy there. One which, if it is carefully nurtured, respected and protected, not to say exposed to excellence as a matter of course, it may well be possible that a kind of subtle artistic revolution might be staged there. And that an area of the country long overlooked for any number of reasons, might end up not only not following-but leading from the front. That this can become a reality I have not the slightest doubt. Which is why I welcome this terrific opportunity-to set the play THE DEAD SCHOOL firmly and identifiably in this midlands terrain, where the war between two titans - one representing perceived modernity, the other the forces of seeming traditionalism and conservatism - can be thrashed out. Against a backdrop of low-lying fields, brooding skies and Larry Cunningham music-with the forces of the counter-culture massing on the hill. I feel it could be a most rewarding project. And one upon which I cannot wait to get started…"

LIVIN' DRED

Based at Ramor Theatre, Virginia, Co. Cavan this company was founded in January 2004 by Padraic McIntyre, Aaron Monaghan and Mary Hanley. It is the only professional theatre company in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath. It has produced two types of theatre product – plays for a general audience and educational/children’s plays. To date Livin'; Dred have presented six plays, Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh (Irish Times Theatre Award Nomination 2004), Tale of the Blue Eyed Cat by Deirdre Kinlihan, Belfry by Billy Roche (Irish Times Theatre Award Nomination 2005), The Snow Child by Deirdre Kinlihan, The Little Dance Girl by Padraic McIntyre and earlier this year Tinkers Curse by Michael Harding which won critical acclaim in both Ramor Theatre and on tour.