Castel Gandolfo by Jim Nolan

Last November, a reading of Jim Nolan’s new play, Castel Gandolfo was held at the National Opera House. The work has gone through several drafts and the reading was held to identify any areas that need further tweaking ahead of the production of the play which will be staged in October at Garter Lane Waterford. Ben Barnes will direct with designs by Dermot Quinn (set), John Comiskey (lighting), Jeni Roddy (costume) and Jamie Beamish (sound). Both Jim Nolan and Ben Barnes were in attendance at the reading and the reading cast were – Anna Healy, Brian Doherty, Anthony Brophy, Catherine Walker and Elishka Lane. The cast of Carrie Crowley, Michael Power, Garrett Lombard, Sarah Madigan and Elishka Lane are busy rehearsing.

Carrie Crowley to star in new Jim Nolan play

Booking has now opened for the premiere in October of Four Rivers’ Castel Gandolfo by Jim Nolan (Moonshine, The Salvage Shop) at Garter Lane Arts Centre. It is directed by Ben Barnes (Artistic Director of Four Rivers).
The play revolves around the cataclysmic exposure of a Waterford family’s deepest and most secret wounds and features Carrie Crowley, Michael Power, Garrett Lombard, Sarah Madigan and Elishka Lane.
Set over two days in the backyard of the eponymous Castel Gandolfo, a decaying terraced house in Waterford’s inner city, Stephen Callaghan is dying and the frail threads that bind his family are fast unravelling. His daughter, Rose, is about to lose her job; his son, Tony, is losing the race to restore his father’s vintage car and his granddaughter, Stella, is about to swap a law degree for a start in the local chipper. As if that wasn’t enough, Stephen’s ex-wife, the formidable Dolly, is back in town. The shock return of another exile threatens to reveal the truth behind a thirty-year-old façade.
The play will preview at Garter Lane on Thursday, October 3rd and open on Friday, October 4th, running until Saturday October 19th.