INTRO TO IMPROV
Sunday 9th October 2022
Come and try out improv theatre with two world renowned improv teachers – here in the Island Theatre, Ballinamore!
Improv(e) your life in the best way possible! This workshop will give you the GROUNDBREAKING tools on how to master improv on and off stage and is the perfect Sunday activity!
We’ll work on skills such as making, accepting, and justifying offers; advance & extend in storytelling, making the relationship the focus in simple scenes, as well as failing happily. You’ll learn to look after yourself as well as focus on your scene partner, by exploring what it means to ‘be yourself’, to ‘be kind’, and to ‘be bold’, in a fun and supportive environment.
LET’S CELEBRATE
Saturday 1st October 2022
Evolution Stage School, Carrick-on-Shannon are delighted to be coming to the Island Theatre Ballinamore to stage their 5th Anniversary Show.
With music, song and dance including pop, musical theatre, tap dancing and more, this show will be suitable for all the family!
Very special guest Mary Byrne (X Factor).
VARIETY SHOW
Wednesday 10th August 2022
A night of nostalgia and celebration!
Tommy Moran and Katherine Lynch will be hosting a variety show at the Ballinamore Island Theatre on Wednesday 10 August at 8pm to showcase local Leitrim talent!
Celebrating the history of the iconic Ballinamore Community Hall – now the Island Theatre – the evening of entertainment will feature an array of local performers, such as Katie Duignan and Aoife Smith, Dara Reynolds and Adam Goldrick, and the Sweeneys.
The event will be free to join as a thank you to the community for all of the help and support that has been provided over the years, and on the night there will be an opportunity to purchase a magazine of stories, photos and memories of the hall. A wonderful keepsake celebrating the past.
Join the event for a night of home-grown entertainment and to be in with a chance of winning one of the many raffle prizes!
OLD MC DONALD’S FARM
Saturday 6th August 2022
Join us down on Old MacDonald’s Farm for fun, songs and excitement.
Friendly Sammy Scarecrow is enjoying his first day on Old MacDonald’s Farm and loves meeting all of the colourful characters that live there. When a mystery unfolds on the farm, can you help Scarecrow find out what’s going on?
With an original script and brand new songs written for this production, along with many singalong favourites, this professionally produced show brought to you by DreamWorld Promotions is a thrill for younger children, aged 1 – 8 years.
CHRIS MEEHAN AND HIS REDNECK FRIENDS
Saturday 25th June 2022
A fabulous and popular 10-piece Cajun Blues Country lead by Mohill born Chris Meehan band bringing their talent back to Leitrim broadening what is understood by Irish Country Music.
The band’s mission statement is to celebrate country music as a term which encompasses a wide variety of music including some genres not readily regarded as being such. In his review of their record “Dancing in the Kitchen” which appeared in the Irish Times, Joe Breen said “Chris Meehan and his crew skilfully negotiate country waltzes, western swing, Cajun craic, jump blues, jazz standards coloured by a dizzying array of sharp solos”. He could have added “while still finding time to do country classics from the songbooks of Tom T. Hall and the Hanks (Williams and Snow)”
ELEANOR SHANLEY AND GARADICE, KILTUBRID PIPE BAND. SPECIAL GUEST DES CAFFERKEY
Saturday 18th June 2022
This unique collaboration gives audiences a chance to see internationally renowned band Garadice with Eleanor Shanley perform with Leitrim’s legendary Kiltubrid Pipe Band under the guidance of the Clew Bay Pipe Band’s Musical Director Des Cafferkey. Des has been responsible for many exciting and successful collaborations for the pipe band with some of Ireland’s best singers/songwriters such as Imelda May and Mundy.
Garadice formed in 2017 to record arrangement of a beautiful selection of tunes, some original and some over 200 years old. The band features Dave Sheridan, Padraig McGovern, John McCartin and vocalist Eleanor Shanley.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME’ – SILENT FILM WITH LIVE ORIGINAL SCORE BY GREENBIRD
Saturday 4th June at 8pm
Local folk band GreenBird are back with another silent film in the Island Theatre. This time, the trio are presenting their live original music score to a screening of the first silent film version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame from 1923. GreenBird last performed the Hunchback to great acclaim and a standing ovation at the Blackrock Film Festival in 2019.
The band features the soulful voice of singer Mandi Frankham, the fiddle and viola of Cliodhna Quinlan and Mark Murphy on piano. The performance also features other assorted stringed and woodwind instruments from the trio. The music of GreenBird and the visuals of this beautiful film will create a very special night that is not to be missed.
Adapted from Victor Hugo’s book, the 1923 silent movie ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ stars the then very famous Lon Cheney as Quasimodo. The film is famous for its beautiful set pieces of medieval Paris and for Lon Cheney’s grotesque makeup and amazing stunt work.
LOOPHOLE BY JOHN MC MANUS
Friday 18th March, 8pm.
This play is set in modern times with up to date themes running through it. We have two miserable farmers Paidi and Cass. On the surface it seems they are best friends but time will tell. Paidi has been told he will die in six months so he decides to leave the land to Cass. Paidi’s no good brother Rooster will cause problems as will a Lady of the night from Poland Kasia. The local solicitor, Miss Murphy will sort everything out hopefully, with the help of the two nosey neighbours Mairead and Molly.
THE HANDYMAN – SEAMUS O’ROURKE
Saturday 5th March 2022
The Island Theatre, Ballinamore is pleased to present ‘The Handyman’ by Seamus O’Rourke on Saturday 5th March 2022 at 8pm.
Hugh Spotten is the local Handyman. He is about to receive an award for his contribution to the community… but all is not what it seems in a small town, falling in on itself. Seamus O’Rourke explores friendship, relationships and how best to get noticed on your last day. The Handyman is hilariously funny, yet a poignant poetic look at small-town life in rural Ireland.
NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR
Thursday 30th December 2021
The Island Theatre, Ballinamore is pleased to present Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror film show with live original soundtrack by GreenBird on Thursday 30th December 2021 at 6pm.
The classic film is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Shreck as Count Orlok, a vampire loosely based on the famous Dracula. Alongside the screening of the film, local alt-folk band GreenBird will perform their highly original live soundtrack.
GreenBird is a band that draws on a tapestry of Folk music, Old-Time music and Jazz to create their own sound of melodies and songs that occupy a timeless folk genre. Their music is underpinned by rich harmonies that adds texture and colour to simple tunes. The band consists of Cliodhna Quinlan on fiddle and viola and backing vocals, Mark Murphy on piano, guitar and mandolin, and Mandi Frankham on lead vocals and flute.
As an accomplished silent movie orchestra, performing at the Blackrock Film Festival in Louth and in the Dock, they use piano, fiddle, vocal, flute, looped percussion and sound effects creating an atmospheric, eerie and vivid accompaniment. The result can be scary at times, but is also beautiful, accessible and great fun.
CHRISTMAS JAZZ CAFE FEATURING CATHAL ROCHE’S NORTH BY NORTHWEST QUARTET
Friday 17th December 2021
Leitrim saxophonist Cathal Roche who recently brought his Duke Ellington project to the Island Theatre Ballinamore returns with a new Jazz quartet composed of musicians from Leitrim, Roscommon, Donegal, and Belfast to pay tribute to the music of legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins.
I started performing jazz as a 14 year old busker 30 years ago under Dublin’s Merchant Arch after hearing Sonny Rollins’ album ‘The Bridge’ for the first time. Sonny instantly became a hero and a guide of mine. As a recording of jazz standards ‘The Bridge’ sounded completely different from anything I’d heard before. Sonny’s playful tenor saxophone sound is searching and personal,somehow carrying something of the night’s street sounds from the Williamsburg Bridge, in New York, a bridge on which Sonny practiced during a two year sabbatical from performing prior to the album being recorded. This man’s music and openness gave jazz musicians a licence to play solo and absorb, to draw off people and places, and to make things more spontaneous, more heartfelt and personal.
THOSE NERVOUS ANIMALS
Saturday 11th December 2021
Those Nervous Animals recently announced (in collaboration with The Island Theatre) a very special show on 11th December 2021, celebrating the success of The Mission Sessions but also the start of a new stage of writing and creativity. More on these plans shortly; they may involve DJ’s other artists and styles, but for now the plan is to get together a locally based group of creatives and – in the spirit of The Steampunk Club (Dromahair), which some of you may be familiar with – to explore creative possibilities in front of a live audience. The show would therefore include some of the many amazing writing talents based in Leitrim. There are so many to choose from, but we started off with Amy O’Hara, whose album A Blue I Can’t Describe was a milestone release in 2021. Amy has a warm and engaging presence live, and was a key contributor to The Steampunk Club for many seasons. We also approached Brían Farrell, based in Leitrim village, and who has been working in the US until recently, when he returned home, assembled a band and started working on new material. Brían released a single, Lola in the late summer of ’21.
CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR 2021
Saturday 4th December 2021
A range of locally made crafts, art work and seasonal food items will be available to purchase at the indoor/outdoor craft fair and music event. Showcasing 28 stalls with locally made goods, demonstrating the variety and quality of our home grown handicraft businesses. From candles and carved Christmas decorations, to fancy jewellery and designer knitwear. Refreshments will be served and a programme of music will be performed by local music groups.
There will be great excitement as Santa Claus will also make his visit to Ballinamore to turn on the Christmas lights giving treats to all.