 is Plunkett Ferry is taking a step back from that a Kenny music and drama group he's stepping down as director and what a time to go as well after double success at the Association of Irish Musical Society's awards in the Killarney and it was very special night for not just Plunkett but the whole cast of Calendar Girls and I'm delighted that Plunkett joins us now in the studio for a wee chat so congratulations first of all Plunkett. It was a good year to go for me. A success that is a thoroughly deserved because it was a fantastic production and it was just a joy to watch and I'm sure you had a lot of fun as well. We had great fun doing it, there are great crowded people to work with. Very talented. Very talented people, the talent at that stage was amazing and so it was fabulous that talent was recognised by getting these two awards in Killarney, we had a fantastic weekend down there. Two weeks ago now. Excited, it's a bonus. Oh, absolute bonus. But what's even nicer is the fact that it was a sold out run. Well it was a sold out run and we made all together near enough 7,000, 6,500 at least for the tarot charities between the shows and the calendars that we printed for the show. So it was nice to give something back to, it was all about cancer so we gave back to the hospice and to Cancer Care North West. Yeah, given that cancer is essential. That was the central theme of the show. It was a great fun show. Like people laughed but they also cried because it was sad in places. No, it did have that mix. Oh, it did. And it was portrayed perfectly on stage, you know, because one minute you were crying and the next minute then you were laughing along with the cast. That's right, yeah. Anyway, let us roll the clock back. It's not today or yesterday that you were involved in your first production here? No. No, it was my first production when I was born. It was in 1991. But I've been involved with theatre all my life. I grew up in Goudour and my father was a director of Ashtari Goudour which was where I was born. They were going. But then they built a theatre in Goudour and that was open in 1961. And since then I've been helping out. I remember the first thing that I was doing was selling sweets with a little tray. Selling sweets in the foyer. But that has to be done too. Then I was helping backstage and doing lights and being on the stage of course. Lights and sound and stage. But of course it was a great base for me. But anybody that ends up being involved, you know, producing or directing a local production, that's the way it's done. It's done from the ground up. Oh, absolutely. Selling programs in the foyer is maybe helping out with the lights or sweeping up backstage, whatever it is. That's all part of it. It's all a learning process. And you pick up tips along the way. I was very lucky to have Annie Neagle of Rita. She was the producer of the Ashtari for years and years and years. And whatever I learned, being in plays and producing plays I would have learned from her. My first play in producing was when I went to go to my father died in 1976 and I was teaching in Dublin that time. So I came home in 1976 to the Scala and La Niangudore. And that was my first play there, a school production. Yeah, and she helped me with it. And we got to the O'Reilly with it. I remember that in 1976-77, yeah. That was the start of it. Amidst success. Yeah, it was great actually, yeah. And then you moved to, a number of years after that, you moved to Lerick County. And it wasn't straight away that the music and drama group was formed. No, no. When I moved to Lerick County, it was in 80, I think, 1979. 1979 probably when we moved, good morning. Yeah, I moved to Lerick County in 79. And then, a few years I was built my own house, so I was busy for a while. And then in 84, there was a glow in the gay that was formed in the town and they wanted to do Irish drama. So my own sister was one of the ones founding members of it. And they asked me, would I do a play? So I started, founded Ashtari All Night. And then our first play in Irish was all women. Unfortunately, because nobody, it was all, they were all in Irish, of course. No men, couldn't get any men to speak Irish but myself. So I had to pick plays and translate plays at the time. So you did an all-female cast? An all-female cast, yeah. So we did that for four or five years, yeah. And then that sort of flittered out a bit. And then I started doing the no-name clubs. They were very big in the town at the time. Yeah. And the county? And the county, they were fabulous. Good things. They were great. We used to fill that out. The community centre at one time. And then they were very good. I remember being involved in them. And they were great showcase for talent. They were great, you know, for young talent to have a stage. All those fabulous, yeah. The adult ones first, I was producing the teacher's ones. And they were great rivaly with The Guardian with all the different groups around the county. But they were great fun. They were great fun. It was a half an hour, 40 minutes of performance on the stage. That's right. Yeah. So then when was the music and drama group formed here? And yeah, the no-name clubs, seniors. And then we went on to the juniors. We did a couple of juniors, no-name clubs as well. And then there was not a lot happening in the town. And so in 1991, we decided to do something about it. And we formed, or did it get a music and drama group in 1991. And the first music was what? We did. The first music was Oklahoma in 1992. We did a play first called The Absent Minded Breakroom. That was back in Loretta Cullman Hall, of course. We did all our plays there. And then we did all our musicals up in the wreck, up in some units. Oklahoma was the first. That was tough going, I tell you. I can imagine. You got an empty hall. And we had a great committee. I must say we had a great committee. So when you got like, especially for the musicals, you went into the units hall. And there was an empty hall. So you had to bring in seats, lights. Everything else was brought in. And then everything was brought out. Back empty again afterwards. And as we're looking back now, the huge leap forward would have been the theater. Oh, yeah. The theater being built and then having access to the theater and not having to step into an empty hall. Oh, that was amazing. Yeah, that was amazing. Yeah. But the theater really started from, we could have it in 1993. And I said at the end of the night, the final night, we really need a theater at this time very badly. And the following morning, Joan Glenfield, who was the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, at the time he said, come on down to meet me. And they had a plan, actually, at the time of transforming the old fiesta into a theater. And he said, come on, have a look at this. See what you think. So I went down to have a look at him. I met him at he was in a bank at the square. They came up with the name of the bank. But anyway, I met him. And we had a look at the plan. I said, God, yeah, this could be a gore. So we should get more people into it. So we called a public meeting for a couple of days after, or a week after that in Gallard Hotel as it was that time. And from that then, we formed another meeting. We called a public meeting then and then in the downtown. And it's from that public meeting then that the Northwest Theater Project was formed. OK. And then from that, thankfully, we got the theater. Yeah. So it did. It took six years. I mean, that was 93. Well, these things don't happen overnight. So it moved, obviously, from the fiesta into where the idea, the concept. That's right. There was a... Danny McGlinchey, they had the letting any music inside. They were going years. But they finished in 87, I think. They had tried to do, built a theater before that, but they couldn't. Unfortunately, nothing happened for them. And so when we started then in 1999, sorry, 93, the big thing was that the council at that time gave us the land for the theaters. But that was a huge step forward. And then the county council decided to come aboard. And that was a big step forward. And there's been many, many musicals and plays and very successful musicals and plays down through the years. Oh, absolutely, yeah. Thinking back to 39 steps. 39 steps. That was probably our most successful play, yeah. We won the Ireland with that back in 2012. And then we did it again in 2000. A couple of years ago, like I said, and then we got... But it's fabulous, yeah. There's just some productions you go to. And I think we... You know this, in particular, from a... I suppose even on bigger stages and elsewhere, if you come out of a production and you're absolutely buzzing, it's almost guaranteed that that is going to win awards. And when I think back to 39 steps and also the calendar gears, that's the feeling you have when you come out. Absolutely. And just raving about it. And it's sort of a show that you want to go out and tell all your friends. Get a ticket. Whatever way you can, get a ticket and go and see this. Yeah, we were lucky with that, yeah. They were probably the two of the most successful. 39 steps as a play. And then calendar gears as the musical. And that we got awards for. We were nominated for, like, in 2007. Anthony DeLapp wrote a musical, Children of the Dead End, and had Campbell put the music to it. Four nominations that year, two aims. That was a very good show, but it was great to have that because I got a brand new music that nobody had ever done before. It was great to get my hands on that. That was very successful too, but unfortunately we didn't get any awards that year. No, but even to be nominated. Four nominations was a big bonus, yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're the ones that have been nominated and won awards, but... But they're not the ones that, yeah. It's been so many. So many, like we've had... Sister Act was a show as well. That's right. And then we didn't wear the names that year, unfortunately. But we had some fabulous shows. Like, there's the talent in this town. It's amazing. But it does need to be galvanized and organized and then directed, and that's where you come in for years. And you've made a lot of friends, obviously. Oh, I have. Put a lot of people through my hands. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's been fabulous. It's been a great... I loved it. It's been great socially, but it's been busy. I was going to say you'd need to love it because it's very easy for us to go along, buy a ticket and go along and sit down and enjoy the show. Oh, yeah. But there's a lot of workers in behind the scenes. Oh, yeah. A lot of time. Now, it just doesn't happen on the find-out of a show. Yeah. A guy would have started... If I was doing the music, I would start the year before planning the musical and doing it and seeing what I wanted to do and all that. So, no, it's a lot of work. So I have to thank Roshi, my wife, too, for giving me the time to be able to do all this. Very patient. Oh, yeah. She was in some of the shows herself. Yeah. But a lot of the children came along then. She did. Yeah. Hold the fort for me when I was able to go on and do these things because I was doing two and three shows a year. There you go. And it's like anybody that has a big commitment, whether that's sport or the arts in this case, that you're missing out. Oh, can you do that? Such a run or can you collect? No, I can't because I have to be... That's right. Yeah. So there's sacrifices that you have to make. Oh, yeah. And that's what COVID did for me, actually. You know, we weren't able to do something. And I realised, God, I can do this now. And I don't have to not do this or not do that because I have free time. All the odd jobs you got done. That's right. Oh, yeah. And not missing family events. And Roshi was like, oh, there's a holiday available to go. Can you go? Oh, I can't because everybody practices. But now I can say, oh, yeah. Let's go. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, now you'll have more time to spend with the grandchildren. That's right. Four grandchildren would want more in the way and it's fabulous to be able to spend the time with them to bond with the grandchildren. It's fabulous. But it's not like you're turning your back on the group. Oh, no. I'm still staying involved. I'm still shamer of the group. All right. And anybody who wants to do musicals or plays, I will give them. I will give them a hand. So Kieran Kelly's already done shows already. And now at the moment, there's a few girls. I won't say anything yet, but there are more than like, they might have a musical again. Okay. And on November, December, two of the girls are seriously thinking of doing something. And I'll give them a hand with it in whatever way I can. I'll give them a hand with it in whatever way I can. Yeah. Russia's probably leaving this now and going, oh, hold on a second. That wasn't the needle. I know. It's not that I don't have the same commitment to give that I have to be there. They have to go. But that's stubborn. But if they want help, maybe they want help. If they don't, that's perfect. Yeah. Well, yeah, I'm sure I'm speaking on behalf of a lot of people that you have worked with and helped and encouraged and guided and directed down through the years in saying a big thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Because there is, I haven't been involved just on the periphery of, you know, a couple of pantos way, way, way back. I just know the amount of work goes into a successful local production. And you've been doing it year in, year out for many so long. It's a long year, yeah. Two RS. Two RS for sure. Two RS. They're not disappearing. No, they won't disappear. Definitely not. Blanket, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Want to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but not too sure how to start. Join me, Donna Marie Doherty, every...