SRO lives up to its Standing Room Only billing

Written by Calvin Jones

Tuesday, 22 June 2004

Amanda Coakley

Reenascreena school pupils set the scene for an evening of cultural entertainment in the village on Saturday 19th June. Pupils read from a selection of their own work about Reenascreena and the surrounding area, some of which has been selected for publication in a new book of children's poetry. Look out for samples of the children's work on this website soon. The poetry recitals were followed by the wonderful sounds of the Irish Harp played superbly by talented young musician Amanda Coakley.

The youngsters set high standards for some of the areas more established performers to follow. Con O'Callaghan rose to the challenge and delivered a stirring rendition of Padraig Pearse's oration at the graveside of local hero Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, and PJ Tobin presented a series of amusing tales about everything from the characteristics of Irish politicians' asses (of the animal variety) to a young lady's reaction when bothered by an over-enthusiastic suitor. RCAG's own Teddy Coakley recited Patrick Galvin's poem "The Mad Woman of Cork" and other verse and various local performers kept the gathered crowd entertained.

The Midas Players

One of the evening's many highlights was the performance of "Two brawls and a sing-song" by the renowned drama group The Midas Players. The performance is set in a bar, and the players took over a section of the actual bar in the festival venue to deliver the performance "up-close-and-personal". Having the audience as part of the set was unusual and particularly effective, adding considerably to the sense of drama.

And what better than live jazz and dancing to round off a perfect evening of entertainment? It really was Standing Room Only (SRO) on the dance-floor until well into the early hours of Sunday morning!

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