The Last Stand

A new play by Dominic Palmer, The Last Stand is the third play in a row by a new voice in Irish theatre for Four Rivers. Directed by Ben Barnes, it ran at Wexford Arts Centre June 8-17, 2023.

The play centres around comedian Tom Hooks as he engages in a no-holds barred verbal joust with various callers to what, he has decided, is his final podcast.

The part of the acerbic stand-up is played by Morgan C. Jones, a veteran of Irish comedic acting, who began his stand up career as a sixteen year old and became the chief script writer on the iconic Nighthawks series for RTE.

Since those heady days Morgan has branched out into television, film and theatre with appearances in Fair City, Vikings, The Bailout and Game of Thrones among other credits.

Fiona Browne, D.I. Audrey in Fair City, assumed the role of Sarah in the play. Fiona recently appeared in Portia Coughlan at the Abbey, Dubliners for Corn Exchange and in Normal People, Vikings and Red Rock.

Wexford actors Michael Dunbar, Sharon Clancy and Jack Matthews, all of whom will be familiar to Wexford audiences, played the callers Brian, Carol and Keith respectively.

The role of Techie Brendan was deftly handled by Dylan Kennedy, last seen as Sean in the Four Rivers production of Amongst Men. His theatre credits include Katie Roche at the Abbey, Lovers at The Bush, Hansel and Gretel at the British National Theatre and Philadelphia Here I Come at the Donmar Warehouse.

Dominic Palmer is one of a small number of super-talented local writers with whom Four Rivers worked at the Wexford Playwright Workshop, an initiative supported by Wexford County Council and the Wexford Arts Centre.

He has won awards for acting, writing and film making and has been practising traditional and street theatre for over twenty years, with an absurdist touch.

It comes as no surprise that he describes The Last Stand as “a darkly comic reprimand and riposte to bigotry and the nonsense notion of ‘cancel culture,’ while being an optimistic exploration of an ageing artist confronting his art, his life and his own mortality.”

The ageing artist in question is acerbic podcasting stand-up comedian Tom Hooks. The Last Stand is about the hilarious and punishing calls he attracts to his show.

“Dominic Palmer’s pitch for tolerance and kindness in the hate fuelled world driven by uncontrolled social media is one that will resonate with many people,” says Ben Barnes.

Upcoming Productions

Small Things Like These

‘This production plays to the versatility in Claire Keegan’s language, with which she fills her simple tale with maximum drama.’ Jackie Hayden.

Four Rivers is delighted to once again bring to the stage in December and January Claire Keegan’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Small Things Like These. It has been described as ‘an unforgettable story of hope and heroism. As last time, the role of storyteller goes to actor Andrew Bennett (Seán in the Oscar-nominated The Quiet Girl/ An Cailín Ciúin) with an original score written and performed by singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy (A Woman’s Heart).

Described as ‘resonant and deeply moving’ by Hilary Mantel, Small Things Like These is set in an Irish rural town in the 1980s in the run up to Christmas: as coal merchant Bill Furlong does his rounds, he discovers a girl locked away in terrible conditions in the local convent. Unlike the silent majority, he decides to do something about it.

This staged reading of Small Things Like These is performed masterly by Andrew Bennett. One of the finest actors of his generation, Andrew recently completed Small Town, Big Story, a new series for Sky Originals, and Blackshore for the BBC. Eleanor McEvoy performs original music she composed for Small Things Like These. Her
critically acclaimed canon of work spans sixteen albums, with numerous cover versions of her songs by Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Phil Coulter, Eliza Carthy, Jack L, and Saint Sister.

Presented by Four Rivers, Small Things Like These is directed by former Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, Ben Barnes. Recent directing credits include The Last Stand (Four Rivers), Madama Butterfly (INO), Lights Out (Four Rivers) and Jim Nolan’s new play Castel Gandolfo (Four Rivers).

Performance dates:
Dec 12 – 14 at Wexford Arts Centre
Dec 17 – 18 at Pavilion, Dun Laoghaire
Dec 20 – 21 at Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London
Jan 10 at Mermaid, Bray
Jan 16 -17 at Garter Lane, Waterford