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January 19, 2011

I Keano Director brings Celebrated Play to Riverbank Arts Centre

Elysium Nevada I Keano director Terry Byrne brings his acclaimed production of Elysium Nevada to the Riverbank Arts Centre on Friday 28 January. The play, written by Carlow playwright Barry McKinley, got rave reviews from the critics when first presented in Bewleys Cafe Theatre, and was nominated as best new play in the 2010 Irish Times Theatre Awards.

An Arts Council supported tour followed which has taken the show all over Ireland, and a highly successful run in Glasgow played to packed houses and renewed critical acclaim. Now, ELYSIUM NEVADA  & LOST CITY will play at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge on Saturday 28th January. Elysium Nevada is set in a retirement home on the edge of the Nevada Desert, with two grumpy old men, played in Odd Couple mode by Steve Curran and Ian Blackmore, chewing the fat over the old days and pondering how the grim reaper sneaks up in soft shoes armed with “a baseball bat”, while at the same time berating the young and their lack of manners and obsession with sex.

The play turns on its head as the elderly hot “babe” of the first act with the oxygen mask (Ann Russell) joins the conversation.  New truths are revealed  in a fascinating and poignant conclusion.

Writing in the Glasgow Herald, Alan Chadwick said -‘Packed with punchy one-liners, the setting and quirky style of the piece brings to mind Sam Shepard, but what emerges is nearer Beckett. This could be Endgame with Hamm and Clov in wheelchairs and Hawaiian shirts ...Terry Byrne’s production acquires an ever increasing poignancy ..brimming with apocalyptic undertones’.

Also included in the programme is a short play, Lost City, by the same author Barry McKinley. A reclusive middle-aged man in his work-shed has fantasies of wild adventure including the search for the lost city of the Incas in the South American jungle, while he plans a special revenge on his violent father who has dominated and damaged his life.

It all promises an excellent night’s theatre. 

From the director of I Keano, see ELYSIUM NEVADA  & LOST CITY, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Saturday 28th January, 8pm. Tickets €16/€14. For bookings and enquiries contact Riverbank box office on 045 448327 or visit www.riverbank.ie