Expect ‘jokes and craic’ at Cootehill Tercentenary play

Aisteoirí Muinchille will stage 'Lay Up Your Ends' this weekend as part of the Cootehill Tercentenary celebrations.

It's a play the amateur acting group Chairperson Fiona Coll has wanted to do for a while due to its “strong” storyline following women working in a mill during the Belfast workers' strikes in 1911. Given Cootehill's rich weaving and linen history, the town's 300 year anniversary presented the perfect opportunity.

“It would have been a really big trade in the town cutting flax, weaving, linen, the mills, all of that,” Fiona tells the Celt.

“We felt it tied in with the 300 years of the town - that was a huge part of our industry so that was our way of marking it to show that history.”

One cast member, twelve-year-old CJ Roche's great grandmother used to be a linen weaver.

“It's not actually that far away that the industry was still taking place,” she adds.

Written by Martin Lynch and Charabanc Theatre Company, which was an all-female group in Belfast who were professional actresses, 'Lay Up Your Ends' is set in a linen mill. Directed by Sarah Watson, Fiona describes how the workers aren't being paid or cared for very well and decide to go on strike.

Both sides of the story

“You see the story from both sides, from the workers' side and from the bosses' side and different characters in and around Belfast in the pubs and in the local community.

“You get to see a variety of characters and of sets and experiences as well.”

Fiona suspects the audiences will be rooting for the workers.

“You see the other side but it's a very strong play and even though we change characters the five main women in the mill are the focus.

“The five women would be a pivotal part of it and you follow their story and see their progression which is the most interesting part.”

'Lay Up Your Ends' is “absolutely” a play the Cootehill actress is passionate about.

“There's a lot to get our teeth into with this, there's Belfast accents, there's working with the flax. Some of us would have gone to linen museums and linen factories to see how they did the weaving, to learn the movements and to learn about the history and the context of it.

“There's been a lot of layers to the preparation, it hasn't just been: read the script, learn the lines and off you go. It's been very complex, but very enjoyable.

“There's great depth in this play, that was fun for us to get stuck into.”

“There's loads in this for an audience, it's so fun is probably the biggest thing I would say about it,” she said, describing the production as “boisterous”.

‘Jokes and craic’

“There's jokes and there's craic and there's singing and there's dancing. Even though these girls were living in awful conditions, working in really bad conditions and they felt the need to strike for better conditions. I think nearly because they had nothing they saw the fun in everything.

“When they were working in the mill, they were singing all the time to keep rhythm, when they're out on strike they're singing when they're marching so it's very jolly. They're slagging and teasing each other and telling old stories and things like that and it just keeps it lively the whole way through.”

“There's no airs and graces with these girls, they could come out with anything.”

In tune with the ethos of the play, the cast has also taken a lively approach, with only three of the eight cast members playing one role. Fiona herself will play Mary, a young girl in the mill who is supposed the be getting married the week that the strike takes place, as well as playing a barmaid, an old lady, a man in the sectarian strike band and an upper-class lady who sings in the choir. The rest of the roles will be played by Mary Brigid Duffy, Angela McCrossan, Fiona Lynch, Michele Crudden, Martin McGinn, CJ Roche and Sara Watson.

Excitment

“There's a lot of quick costume changes and accent changes,” she describes. “The audience are going to have a fun time keeping up with us.”

Fiona has been a member of the Aisteoirí Muinchille since the group began a decade ago. Passionate about acting, she's looking forward to bringing her eight and six-year-old children to watch.

“I'm really looking forward to bringing my kids to this because there isn't anything PG,” she adds.

The play takes place at St Michael's Hall on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 at 8pm and on Sunday April 13 at 5pm. Tickets can be bought at Argue's Butchers in Cootehill or on the door. They can also be purchased online at gr8events.ie.