We are always delighted to welcome new members to the guild. Being part of a production is fun and very rewarding. Rehearsals are a big time commitment but the satisfaction of being part of a production makes it all worth while.
Many of our Actors go on to become Directors. We are eager to help our members improve their skills and talents and hold in-house training workshops from time to time.
Readings for parts are held approximately three months before each production. Keep an eye on our website or our facebook page for details or contact us for more information.
What our members have said about being part of Clonmel Theatre Guild
My memories of the years spent with Clonmel Theatre Guild are a bit like the Dana song ”All Kinds of Everything:” laughter, tears, discipline, and drama (more often backstage than onstage!) – and of friendships, which have endured over the years.
For many years the Guild was an integral part of my life: readings, rehearsals, set-building and finally, to the first night – standing in the wings in terrified anticipation; the adrenalin rush as you felt the audience respond – to the final curtain and the collective sigh of relief!
I look back on those times with great fondness and can truly say – for me – ”those were great days!”
Mary Burke
It is with great fondness that I look back on my time with Clonmel Theatre Guild. While initially the Guild was a social outlet for a young inexperienced teenager in 1974, on reflection, it proved to be one of the great positives in my life, forging friendships that have endured to this day. Commitment, discipline, nerves, sometimes even tears but most importantly camaraderie and trust underpinned each performance, attributes that are still evident to date, making Clonmel Theatre Guild a strong and vibrant organisation.
Molly Daly
I joined the Clonmel Theatre Guild in September 1996. I had just moved from Ennis, Co. Clare for work reasons and I was looking for a way to make friends and meet people in Clonmel. I had heard that readings for a play were taking place in Mulcahy House and so I went down and when I arrived, there were about thirty or forty other people there whom all seemed to know each other and so I sat in a corner feeling ever so slightly embarrassed and prepared myself to feel invisible for the night. How wrong I was. Straight away people introduced themselves and asked me where I was from and so began many, many wonderful friendships with people from all around Clonmel and others whom like I were just visitors to this town.
We have done so many different plays. A few that stand out in my mind are, “The Cripple of Inishmaan” by Martin McDonagh, “Happy Birthday dear Alice” by Bernard Farrell and in particular “Noises Off” by Michael Frayne. This had a cast of nine people and was one of the most fun plays that we ever did. It was also the last time that Brendan Long, one of the founding members of the Theatre Guild and a leading light in so many ways, was on stage before his passing in September 2004.
When the curtains are drawn and the last bows are taken, it is the fun that we had and the friendships that we have made during that time that stay with me.
Rachael Culligan
My first memory of Clonmel Theatre Guild is also my best memory, as on a cold October evening in 2000, we gathered in Mulcahy House for the first reading of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off. It was my first play with the Guild, and the initial nerves of joining a new organisation were quickly quelled by the friendliness and warmth of its members. Noises Off is regarded an extremely difficult play to do, even for professional theatre companies. But everyone threw themselves into the job with dedication and enthusiasm.
By March the following year, we were ready for our four-night run in the White Memorial Theatre in Clonmel. Although a physically demanding and exhausting play, it was easily the most fun I’ve ever had on stage. As Noises Off is a play about putting on a play, art would often imitate life in the most unexpected and sometimes hilarious fashion. I was sorry when the last night arrived and the curtain came down for the final time, but will always have very fond memories of those five months spent with Clonmel Theatre Guild and Noises Off.
James Whelan
As a young aspiring amateur actress with a staunch commitment to the activities of The Guild, I took great umbrage at the time, when a close friend remarked, “I never knew you were into the playacting”. Playacting? This was nothing as frivolous or whimsical as playacting! For over 40 years we have had the privilege and opportunity of presenting the cream of Irish and International theatre to what we felt was an acceptable standard to ourselves and to our audiences and I would modestly suggest that we didn’t disappoint. In the midst of all this hard work, we had our ups and downs and learned a lot about life but most of all we had tremendous fun, formed lasting friendships and would like to believe that, in the process, we provided some very worthwhile entertainment for our community. This playacting is a serious business after all!
Ina Long