Bardic Theatre to host classic play, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’

The Bardic Theatre is set to host the brilliantly-crafted play, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’, with a superb cast that includes award-winning actor, Marty Maguire, who has thrilled stage and film audiences in Ireland and American during his celebrated career.

Set in the 1980s, Glengarry Glen Ross shows two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts, from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary to sell undesirable real estate to unwitting prospective buyers.

Widely-considered one of writer David Mamet’s greatest works, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, and was later adapted as a movie in 1992, starring no less than Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey and Alec baldwin. The movie version was nominated for four Tony Awards, including ‘Best Play’, ‘Best Director’, and two ‘Best Featured Actor’ nominations.

It is based on Mamet’s experience, having previously worked in a similar office.

Director Brian (‘Bugsy’) McMahon promises audiences are in for an ‘absolute treat’, with the quality of the acting doing justice to a masterpiece of writing. The cast are local actors, Blaine Nugent; James Murphy; Kevin Campbell; Mark Shields; Noel Comac; Peter Cunnigham; and Richard Collins, with huge experience on stage, as well as a contribution from Marty Maguire, who plays the role of Blake.

Bugsy, who started with the Bardic Theatre in 2000, has been involved in many productions both on stage and as director.

He attained a First Class Honours in Drama at Queen’s University Belfast, and has lectured on drama and brings acting workshops to schools across the North.

Hugely excited to be involved with Glengarry Glen Ross, he said, “It was a masterful play, and was a fantastic movie – a phenomenal piece of work.

“It is an actor’s play that is beautifully-crafted. It takes a strong cast to do it and this is a brilliant cast.

“It is about a cut-throat industry, as they try to get to the top of real estate in the US.

“There is ego and betrayal and misogyny, in a ruthless environment or else they are fired.

“However, with all that, there is a lot of dark humour and uncomfortable laughs. It will be interesting to see how the audience receives each character.”

A shocking but mesmerising piece of theatre, Glengarry Glen Ross has continued to thrill audiences around the world for almost three decades.

It opens at the Bardic Theatre on Friday, March 11 for seven shows, ending on Saturday, March 19. A preview performance will take place on Thursday, March 10.

l Tickets are available from ‘www.bardictheatre.com’.