Leitrim native, Seamus O’Rourke returns to the Roscommon Arts Centre stage this Saturday night as Teddy ‘the Mucker’ Tucker in John McManus’ production of ‘Danger Money’. Dan Dooner spoke with Seamus earlier this week to get a feel of what was involved in staging one-man shows…
Seamus, tell me a bit about Danger Money and working with John McManus…
John and myself, a lot of people say, are cut from the same cloth. This story is set in a bog in Dowra in Co. Leitrim and the character has returned home having worked for 30 years in London. Something very traumatic happened to him in London and he suddenly came home. The play is basically about him and his current set-up in Dowra. It’s a great yarn and there’s a wonderful end to the play, which is sometimes hard got in theatre. A very well-rounded piece of theatre and it’s going down a storm.
The last time we spoke you were preparing to stage ‘Kings of the Kilburn High Road’ in the Arts Centre…how different is a one-man production?
John came up with this play and I hadn’t intended to go back to the one-man thing because I just feel the need of a bit of company on stage. The script was just so strong that I had to go with it. I felt with ‘Kings’ it was lovely to be back on stage with people you could bounce off and take the pressure off a little bit. There was a theory that a lot of people didn’t go for the one-man stuff. Some people feel it doesn’t hold them as much. But I have a following…and it really brings it back to storytelling. I’m happy to get back to it but I do miss the presence of company at the same time!
Your portrayal of Maurteen in ‘Kings’ was well received in Roscommon. Are you looking forward to performing here again on Saturday?
I always look forward to going back to Roscommon because, I suppose, we both pull from the west of Ireland, which is a different part of the world completely! I’m fairly confident that they’ll appreciate the piece and that I’ll have the usual warm welcome when I get there.
* Seamus O’Rourke will be performing in Danger Money this Friday (October 7th) at the Roscommon Arts Centre at 8.00 pm. Booking on 090-6625824.
