Carrick-on-Suir's And The BEAT Goes On Festival was a resounding success

The second And The BEAT Goes On festival celebrating live performing arts in the community at Carrick-on-Suir’s Brewery Lane Theatre was a resounding success last weekend.

The three-day festival, organised by Carrick’s Tudor Artisan Hub, featured performances from The Linley Hamilton Quartet and SÍOMHA, along with the screening of Water Under The Bridge, a film shot in Carrick-on-Suir and written and directed by Rehan Ali.

All the events were free of charge to the public.

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These headline artists were supported by an array of local performers including Darren Dreelan Trio, Pete MacGowan with Kate McDonald and the Purple Roses, namely Marie Walsh and Jane McLoughlin.

Another creative layer to the festival was the Beloved exhibition of paintings created by Tudor Artisan Hub artists Mia Carney, Michelle, Claire Ryan and Mary Hourigan.

There was a full-house at Brewery Lane last Friday for the festival’s opening night of jazz music. The Darren Dreelan Trio, comprising Darren Dreelan on clarinet, Eddy Blake on drums and Shane Murphy on guitar, kicked off the entertainment.

The trio, who all met at Waterford Institute of Technology, performed a fabulous set and it was a pity it didn’t continue longer.

After the tea break, the Dr Linley Hamilton Quartet from county Down took to the stage.

The quartet of Linley Hamilton on trumpet, Cian Boylan on piano, Diarmuid Lally on bass and Dominic Mullan on drum, performed jazz compositions from six of Linley’s albums.

Linda Fahy of Tudor Artisan Hub said the quartet’s performance was full of “positive fun energy” and was both “electric” and “uplifting”.

A screening of young writer and film maker Rehan Ali’s short film, Water Under the Bridge was the centre piece of the festival’s second night. Rehan spent much of his childhood and teenage years living in Carrick-on-Suir’s Bridgewater House Direct Provision Centre and his love of film making was fostered at the Tudor Artisan Hub.

Water Under The Bridge, which was shot entirely in Carrick-on-Suir and featured a local actor Peter Obidiran, in the lead role, premiered at the Dublin Film Festival earlier this year.

The film came about as a result of Rehan winning the 2021 Virgin Media Discovers & Screen Ireland Short Film Competition.

The audience was also treated to a short show reel of Rehan’s journey in filmmaking.

“It was fabulous to see all the trailers and all the films shot locally,” said Linda, who has been a mentor to Rehan in his writing and film making.

“Some of us had the privilege of seeing Water Under the Bridge in the Lighthouse Cinema Dublin and when it was shown on Virgin Media TV but seeing it in Brewery Lane in the town it was filmed was so special.”

Following the screening, Rehan gave a short presentation on the making of the film.

He was joined on stage afterwards by Peter Obidiran, Maria Clancy of Brewery Lane Drama Group, who coached Peter in acting for the film and has supported Rehan in all his films to date, writer Margaret O’Brien, who supported Rehan in writing the film’s screenplay and with other writing projects he was involved in and Linda Fahy.

A question and answers session followed where the audience learned about Rehan's recent published writing successes and what he has next in the pipeline.

The evening ended with music and singing from local singer/songwriters and guitarists Kate McDonald and Pete MacGowan.

Singer Síomha was the star attraction on the final night of the festival. The Clare born singer delivered a magnificent set from her debut album Infinite Space, a collection of songs in both Irish and English.

Síomha was accompanied by her creative partner Martin Atkinson-Borrull on keys and Fionn O’Neill on bass.

The Purple Roses duo comprising singer/songwriter musicians Marie Walsh and Jane McLoughlin, opened the show by performing a set of their original material.

Linda Fahy paid tribute to Brewery Lane Theatre members who gave terrific support and help with the staging of the festival.
That included sound technician Pete MacGown, John Denby and Eamon Faulkner, who were in charge of lighting. She also thanked photographer Noreen Duggan, Patrice Cooney, who recorded the festival on film, the team of volunteers behind the box office and refreshments, the performing artists and audiences who supported the festival.

And The BEAT Goes On was funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media in conjunction with Tipperary County Council as part of the LLPPS-4 scheme supporting live performances in the community.