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Theatre provides new direction for Ryan E-mail
Written by Alan Jacques   
Thursday, 12 November 2009
AFTER seven years at the helm of the good ship Giveamanakick, Limerick rocker Stephen Ryan is now proving that he is certainly not a man frightened to try new things with his latest foray into the world of theatre. Local playwright Mike Finn has acquired Stephen’s talents to create a new original score for his adaptation of Thomas Middleton’s ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ — a blood-soaked tale of vengeance, deception and lust, exploring the notions of revenge and justice and the cyclical nature of violence. Sounds right up Ryan’s street alright! During his time with noise merchants Giveamanakick, Ryan sold out shows at home and abroad as well as playing rapturous sets at Electric Picnic and New York’s CMJ Music Marathon, not to mention opening for everyone from Dinosaur Jr to Ministry, The Rapture, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rocket From The Crypt, The Undertones and Deftones. There’s no denying this man’s rock credentials; Giveamanakick were one of Ireland’s best-loved and loudest bands during their seven years together, but how on earth did he end up writing the music for a play? “Liam O’Brien who plays the main role of Vinnie is a very old friend of mine from since we were in school. Mike Finn who wrote the play asked him if he could think of anybody that would be able to come up with an original score and my name was bandied about. I’d never done anything like this before so I jumped at the opportunity,” the talented Limerick musician tells Alan Jacques. ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ tells the story of Vinnie who returns from England bent on avenging the death of his girlfriend at the hands of the notorious Duke but his actions will wreak havoc on his enemies, his family and ultimately, himself. “‘It’s a very cinematic play, it kind of reminds me of movies like ‘Man Bites Dog’ or the old westerns. There is a lot of dialogue and adult themes running through the play such as violence and lust. It’s actually quite menacing so I wanted that to come across in the music without it taking away from the action taking place on stage,” Stephen explains. “I had been familiar with Mike Finn’s work but I have never seen anything like this before. I’m not a theatre head or anything but I think this play is very different. It’s very dark with lots of black comedy and adult situations. I think people will be shocked when they see it, but for all the right reasons,” he enthuses. Having recently announced the demise of Giveamanakick, Stephen Ryan has been keeping himself quite busy. He’s just off tour as support to Villagers with his other band, Windings, when he tells me that he was honoured to have been asked to provide music and sound to this theatre production as he has been a fan of Bottom Dog’s work since its inception last year. “This project is very different from anything I’ve ever worked on before so I tried not to think of that aspect of it or it would have been very scary. Mike gave me a draft of the play, which I read to get ideas and I also sat in on some of the rehearsals to see how the music would work with the actors. There is a lot going on on stage so I wanted incidental music that wouldn’t get in the way of things. A lot of the music was done on banjo and I think it adds to the darkness of the whole thing,” Ryan confesses. Limerick Theatre Hub and the Belltable Arts Centre in association with Bottom Dog Theatre will present ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ to local audiences from this Wednesday, November 11 to Saturday November 21. Directed by Myles Breen, the play stars Killinaskully’s Pascal Scott as the Duke and ‘Emmerdale’ star Liam O’Brien as Vinnie. The other cast members include Gene Rooney who returns to Limerick after the recent success of ‘Buck Jones and the Body Snatchers’ in the Dublin Theatre Festival, Aidan Crowe, Dorothy Cotter and Pat Ryan. Stephen promises something very different from his work with Windings and Giveamanakick, and is excited about working closely with director and cast. “I talked to Mike and he told me the idea for the play came from a Tom Waits song called ‘God’s Away On Business’ which I am very familiar with. So with that in my mind I set about doing my own version of Tom Waits. It’s certainly not Tom Waits, but yeah for sure it’s my own take on him. People have said that the score has a real spaghetti western feel to it. This was very different from anything I’ve ever done before but I enjoyed every minute of it. It really was a new direction for me.” ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ opens at the Belltable, 36 Cecil Street this Wednesday, November 11 and runs until Saturday November 21. For further information or bookings call 061-319866.

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