Cathal to take his Tipperary hurling story on the road

The words ‘Maher’ and ‘Hurling’ are synonymous in Tipperary, but two unexpected Mahers have worked together to bring a hurling theatre piece to the stage.

Following sell-out performances in Clonmel and Thurles, it is now travelling further afield to Limerick and Waterford.
Pucked as a play came out of a conversation that writer/performer Cathal Ryan had with Brendan Maher, artistic director of the Source Arts Centre in Thurles.

“Brendan attended an online graduation play of mine that fellow Lir graduate Clonmel native Jack Reardon directed, and told me to get in touch when I graduated,” said Cathal.

Cathal had always been interested in creating his own work and had started thinking of ideas around a celebration of the GAA and his love of hurling, combined with ideas of masculinity and expectations of young men, particularly those growing up in rural Ireland.

National award for Tipperary County Council age friendly initiative

Jack Reardon is an associate artist with Clonmel Junction Arts Festival and was looking for a script to direct for the launch of Junction Festival Dome as a theatre venue, welcoming live audiences for the first time at the 2022 festival in July.
“When Cathal told me about Pucked, I asked to read it, and immediately got on the phone to Cliona Maher, artistic director of

Clonmel Junction Festival, to say that I thought I’d found a really exciting project,” said Jack. “I am really interested in bringing theatricality to the one-man show format, and this script, as well as Cathal as a performer, allows so much scope for that. Over the last number of years, I've been incredibly fortunate to have a sensational design team support me. Jack Scullion, Eoin Lennon and Michael Stapleton share my ambition for bringing blockbuster theatre to Clonmel, and we were so excited to be the opening show for the Junction Dome, and the 2022 Festival,” said Jack.

The play is as fast-moving as the game itself, bringing to life Matty Daly, a young hurler who dreams of making it to the senior team, his Mam and Dad, his teammates and arch-nemesis Conor Dooley, the inhabitants of the village where he lives - an Everytown of rural Ireland.

SIDELINES
The highs of playing, the lows of the WhatsApp group you’re not in. Funny and moving in turns, the passion for hurling is clear throughout in a show that puts the audience on the sidelines of a game and a life, written by an actor who knows every move from the inside out.

Pucked wowed audiences at its July premiere in Clonmel, selling out its three night run at the Junction Dome, and opened its autumn tour in Source Arts Centre in Thurles, in another sell-out run, with audiences commenting that “this play is wonderful on all levels. Not to be missed. Saw it and was blown away!”

TOPICAL
It is a chance for Tipperary theatre to bring an exciting and topical new show to audiences around Ireland, and to show that our county theatre skills are on a par with our hurling expertise.
Pucked visits Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick on Friday November 25 and Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford on Friday December 2 and Saturday December 3.