Cathal Ryan is bringing PUCKED to the Source theatre

There is great excitement in Thurles at the present time with the up-coming PUCKED set to be staged in the Source theatre for two nights in November - Friday 4th and Saturday 5th.

Written by, and starring, Cathal Ryan , who lives in the Ragg but who has very strong Thurles connections, PUCKED opened at the Junction Festival in Clonmel and is set for further dates in Waterford and Limerick in the coming weeks too.

Immersed in the GAA from a young age, Cathal ‘lived in that bubble’ until he found theatre at the age of 17.

His father Andy, currently working with Bourke Sports, is a former Tipperary Games Development Adminsitrator and steeped in Durlas Óg and Thurles Sarsfields, while his mother Martina is a well known athlete having come from the famed Dorney stock - her father and mother, Patsy and Kathleen, are legends of Thurles Crokes AC.

But Cathal, whose granduncle, Liam, is heavily involved in Thurles Drama Group, has taken a different direction and is a professional actor.

“ The theatre bug took its time before biting me. I think growing up I didn't really consider it as something I could do as a young man, I associated it more as something for adults.

“It’s about confidence too. I struggled with my own confidence and anxiety for a long time when I started out on this career path because it is a very difficult industry. But, you get over that and then you can channel all that into something positive,” Cathal told the Tipperary Star this week.

PUCKED, as a play, came out of a conversation that Cathal 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 and Clonmel native Jack Reardon directed, and told me to get in touch when I graduated,” Cathal said.

He 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.

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.

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.

The story of PUCKED deals with a range of topics. What makes you ... you. PUCKED is for fans of theatre, fans of the GAA and for those in the middle who adore both... it's a dream come true.

Performing on his home patch will be a great challenge for Cathal, but one he is really relishing.

“It was brilliant that Clonmel went so well for me and was received so well. That told me that I had a good show and now there is a lot of expectation because people are wanting to come along and expect something really good, whereas before they might have been coming along just to support me.

“But, I am very excited about coming to the Source with PUCKED because having studied in Galway and Dublin, I always wanted to come back home with something at some stage,” Cathal says.

Cathal has been hosting confidence workshops in schools in recent times and he regrets that there were no such things when he was in school. He readily admits to wishing to have had the courage to get involved in groups such as Phoenix Productions during his teenage years, but was afraid to because of the reaction he might have received from his peers.

“At this stage, I know now that nobody would have cared but that was not how I felt at the time and it prevented me from getting involved in groups like that. I missed out on a lot because of that - I was hurling with Dúrlas Óg and then with Drom-Inch, but it was only when I got involved with the Inch Players that I realised this was something I wanted to pursue.

“I always try to make those workshops fun - I am not a teacher and these are not serious lessons, but I do try to stress that you never know how the person beside you might be feeling. So, if one person gets one thing from those workshops, then it is worth it,” said Cathal who is delighted at how well received they have been.

Working as a full time professional in this business is not easy and there are scary moments for everybody in the industry. But, Cathal is determined to continue pursuing his career and he is very grateful for all the support he has received heretofore.

Tickets have been going very well for the two night stint in the Source, but there are still some available by contacting the ource booking office.

So, make sure to get in there and get your tickets for a great evening out. You’ll be supporting one of Thurles’ up and coming performers too.