Rollercoaster night of drama this Friday in Mountmellick

THEATRE lovers are in for a rollercoaster ride when a festival of 12 one-act plays named Page to Stage, written by a dozen of Laois’s established and upcoming writers, will be performed at Mountmellick Community Arts Centre (MCAC) this Friday 20 March, under guidance from theatre director Ellen Buckley.

The idea for the repertoire of 10-minute plays was conceived by Mountmellick Arts Collective and Mountmellick Writers’ Group member Colette Wrafter. Fellow member Siobhán Parkinson quickly jumped on board to help with orchestrating the stage management of this exciting event.

The 12 writers who penned their little gems for what is sure to be a super-entertaining inaugural year of the drama fest are Colette Wrafter (event producer), Siobhán Parkinson, Núl Moore, Sheelagh Coyle, Ramakrishnan Rengarajan (aka Bubblelock), actress Ciara Julia Ryan, Pauline Dunne, Dr Arthur Broomfield, Frances Harney, Amanda Kelly (Power of Words Events founder), Siobhán Hoy and Johnny Renko (aka John Whelan).

Since 2022, the Mountmellick Writers’ Group meets every Thursday in the town’s library and are full of praise for the staff, saying they are “fantastic” and “always ready to help with research” while regularly providing refreshments.

At a recent gathering of the group, event producer Colette Wrafter explored the story behind the upcoming festival.

Colette said: “Page to Stage is a collection of new work from 12 writers from around Laois so there are 12 different voices, each telling a different story. This came about through the Mountmellick Arts Collective. Within the arts collective, we have a writers’ group and we had published three pamphlets of poetry and short stories which went quite well. This gave us the energy to set ourselves the challenge of writing some plays.

“Six people came on board and the plays were presented as part of the Mountmellick Heritage and Arts Festival in 2024. The venue for those plays was the Balcony Theatre in the MCAC. We were absolutely gobsmacked that we filled the auditorium! 

"Those plays were directed by Ellen Buckley from Tipperary, who has a master’s in theatre directing from the Lir Academy in Dublin. This year, Ellen is also directing our 12 plays which will be staged downstairs in the main auditorium, which holds 450 people.” 

Colette said that she has been in touch with David Broderick of Creative Laois and Muireann Ní Chonaill, arts officer at Laois County Council.

Colette said: “In 2024, David couldn’t have been any nicer to us and supported us 100%. We are delighted that he is on board with us this year too. Muireann is also very good for helping us, we thank them both.” 

Colette took a course in the early months of 2025, called The Artist’s Way, with embodiment coach and mentor and business development executive David Delaney of the Laois Nationalist. Amanda Kelly, founder of the Power of Words, was also on that course.

Colette said: “When I was talking about our Page to Stage event with Muireann, she brought up Amanda’s name. I got in touch with Amanda and thankfully there are three writers from the Power of Words group who are delighted to be involved in the project. This artistic endeavour could be a pathway to assist writers to develop bigger and longer plays.” 

Colette Wrafter’s play, Rex Machina is a multi-act play with a mix of human and animal characters and themes of technology, mental health, justice and existence. The script explores themes of mental anguish and existential crisis through two parallel human narratives and a surreal, allegorical judgment in the afterlife.

Siobhán Parkinson’s play, titled When the Colour Went Away, is a solo play tracing a life lived in shades of grey. Moving from childhood imagination to adult survival, it explores how depression and anxiety can quietly take root beneath silence, perfectionism and compliance. Through memory, sound and story, the play offers an innate portrait of endurance and the slow, non-linear return of colour.

Núl Moore’s play is titled Hierarchy Secret. The dialogue depicts a tense, emotionally charged confrontation between Maria, a young single mother living in England, and her father, who has travelled from Ireland to see her. Set in a cramped, yellow-cupboard kitchen, the scene explores the clash between traditional Irish social expectations and a woman’s right to autonomy.

Sheelagh Coyle’s play, Decisions, is about a woman, diagnosed with breast cancer, who has been given four days to decide between a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. The play opens in the hospital ward following the surgery and throughout the play we learn how the woman arrived at her final decision. This was a personal journey the author experienced 22 years ago and happily she is still here to tell her story of recovery after breast cancer.

Bubblelock’s play, That’s Never a Good Bye, explores the emotional meeting between a daughter who has just stepped into adulthood and the memory of her father, who passed away during her childhood. As she stands at the threshold of maturity, the absence she has lived with becomes newly present. The stage represents an inner space where memory, longing and growth intersect. The father appears not as a physical return but as a soulful presence, shaped by the daughter’s recollection and emotional need.

Ciara Julia Ryan’s play, The Wasteland, offers a glimpse of a night spent. Three souls, Sam, Chris and Juno, make their way rhythmically across the town of lights and sights. Of cities and stars. Gather your breath and pace yourself as they expand across the dark like all that glitter thrown above. You see, sometimes the most beautiful things never ask for your attention.

Pauline Dunne’s play titled Brandubh features Cathy-Anne, who is 'waiting up' for her boyfriend Jack to come home from work. It’s late, or perhaps early, but it’s a nice thing to do, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you like someone to 'wait up' for you? While she does, Cathy-Anne goes back and forth talking about her life and her relationship, while avoiding thinking about the crow she hears in the room.

Dr Arthur Broomfield’s play is titled Snow Drops. This eerie piece is about a husband who has an out-of-body experience, when he finds himself looking down at the duvet on the bed. It’s their wedding anniversary soon after and his wife has embroidered a quilt with a special design for the bed, but he doesn’t know what’s on it. Speaking of his out-of-body-experience to his wife and neighbour results in slagging and banter. Until it doesn’t!

Frances Harney’s play is titled First to Crack. On the night of her debutante dance Anna, in a drug-fuelled haze, signs a document presented to her by college student, Tommy Jones. She believes he can acquire crack cocaine, so she pays him €100 to be first on his list and adds her friend Val’s name. Her action places them both in a challenging situation.

In Mueller and O’Connell Bakery in Abbeyleix, Amanda Kelly, Johnny Renko and Siobhán Hoy met to offer glimpses into their plays for this newspaper.

Amanda’s play is titled Red Tape, which she emphasised is fictional! It features a woman working in a small office who is very frustrated in her job, wanting something better for herself. Falling foul of office politics and paying a heavy price, she has a secret fantasy which will be revealed onstage on the night!

Johnny Renko’s play, Ash Wednesday, is set in 1982 in the midlands, primarily featuring two actors who are likely lads, sitting in the front seat of a Ford Sierra where the drama unfolds. A third actor is involved towards the end, in this crossover between Peaky Blinders and Guy Richie meets Martin McDonagh and John B Keane, but without violence.

Siobhán Hoy said that her play is a monologue titled Steel on Steel, which she developed from her short story where the protagonist is a woman who is out for revenge. She works in the side-room of a mortuary and is telling the story of what happened to her in the past, while the mortician is working next to her.

Beginning at 8pm on Friday 20 March, the first six plays will be performed. These will be followed by an intermission and then the second set of six plays.

Tickets are €10 and can be booked now through www.ticketor.com/pagetostage or purchased on the door. Mountmellick Writers’ Group can be contacted at 089 4845714 or by emailing mountmellickwritersgroup1@gmail.com.