Billy Roche and Conall Morrison trade stories

Last Sunday afternoon at Wexford Arts Centre, Tom Mooney, Four Rivers Director of Communications, chaired a lively take-it-where-you-will conversation between Billy Roche and Conall Morrison, director of A Handful Of Stars. Was it good? Let’s put it this way: in the Spain v Croatia game the other night, Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz ‘twisted and turned in the Croatia box’ (thanks Sky!), confounding the hapless, leaden-footed defenders before slamming the ball into the net. Straight away football fans across the planet are screaming at the tv, screaming at the commentator, ‘SHOW IT AGAIN, SHOW IT AGAIN’! Yeah well in the quiet calm of the arts centre’s theatre where there was no commentator other than Tom and no screaming, the flow of anecdotes, the verbal dexterity, the riposts, the double entendres had one reaching for the imaginary remote control: pause, rewind, replay! Famed actor Tony Doyle? Yeah, he was there. Richard Harris, of course. Pecker Dunne too. Ah lads seriously, it was so good, like improv theatre leavened with a wicked streak of comedy. If anyone ever does get around to writing an account of this performance – let’s not settle for a lesser word – let them send it into RTE radio’s Sunday Miscellany show. And I’ll tell you one thing: we’ll all be late for mass that morning!