Murphy’s Town Hall Athenry 28 "Autumn Fire, which is so popular in many cities in Ireland, was presented to a filled house by the local Dramatic Club in the Town Hall on Sunday night. Although the term of training was comparatively short the actors filled their respective positions to perfection. J. Cunniffe who acted the part of Owen Keegan, a middle aged farmer, and a widower, was the feature of the play. His movements and dialect left nothing to be desired. Mary Duddy, who played the part of Nance Desmond, a cottier's daughter, was also an outstanding figure. Ml. Kilkelly brought into real life Ml. Keegan, -son of Owen, when he discovered that he and his father (Owen) had been making love to Nance Desmond and that she and his father were about to be married. Kitty Lardner, who filled the place of Ellen Keegan, daughter of Owen, was most impressive, and gave a vivid representation of the country girl who was worried over her aged father getting married. Michael Fahy and Kathleen Corley filled to perfection the places of Morgan Keegan, brother of Owen, and Mrs. Desmond, mother of Nance, as did Frank Curran, who acted as Tom Furlong, and Deta Fahy, whose duty it was to perform the only bit of comedy in the play, was out on her own.” 4th April 1940 – L Caslin Travelling Picture Company screened Angels with Dirty Faces in the Hall, a 1938 Gangster movie starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan (source: Hall Journal): Soapy: “Hey! Call a fair game or I'll slap you right in the kisser!” Rocky Sullivan (Cagney): “You'll slap me? You slap me in a dream; you better wake up and apologize!” 25th April 1940 – L Caslin Travelling Picture Company screened Bringing Up Baby in the Hall, a 1938 comedy starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn & Barry Fitzgerald (source: Hall Journal). 29th April to 5th May 1940 – Collin Morris & Full London Company, a Travelling Drama Group, performed the following 6 plays across seven nights in the Hall (source: Hall Journal, plus Barr Collins letter dated 22nd April 1940, confirming the booking): 53 I Killed the Count, by Alec Coppel French without Tears, by Terence Rattigan George and Margaret, by Gerald Savoy On the Spot, by Edgar Wallace The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare Poison Pen, by Richard Llewellyn Connacht Tribune 8th June 1940 carried the following in relation to Collin Morris & Co: “On Monday night next Mr. Colin Morris will present his company at the Town Hall, Galway, for the first time. Mr. Morris has acted in every large theatre in Great Britain, both on tour and in resident seasons, and has been described as ‘one of the finest young leading men in the modern theatre.’ During the week he will be playing many widely different roles, including a country, squire in Poison Pen, a hectoring detective in I Killed the Count, and a young diplomat-cum-writer in French without Tears. He has had much experience in America, appearing in the film Hi Nellie, with Paul Muni, and in Champagne Waltz, with Gladys Swarthout. Included in his company are Miss Barbara Ogilvie, a former member of the renowned Comedie Francais, and Mr. Norman Barrs, a graduate of Cambridge University, who has achieved great success on the stage. Two other well-known actors who will be seen in the various productions will be Mr. Michael Blake, who has appeared in a number of films, including The 39 Steps and Miss Jane Aird, who received part of her training under the famous Abbey Theatre actress, Miss Sarah Allgood.” 9th May 1940 – L Caslin Travelling Picture Company (Strokestown) screened the original King Kong in the Hall (source: Hall Journal), a 1933 Monster movie starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong & Bruce Cabot, and based on a story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C Cooper. 17th to 23rd June 1940 – J & C Mack All Star Variety Show played the Hall for 7 consecutive nights (source: Hall Journal). 52 A short play entitled Lilac Ribbon was also performed on this occasion (before the main production), as per Connacht Tribune 30th March 1940, page 2. 53 They performed I Killed The Count twice in the week
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