Click here for Past Performances:
photographs of Drama, Music & Shows at Friars Gate Theat

Thursday 9th September @ 8pm
It’s a cultural thing or is it? written by Michael Collins
Based on the life experiences of Michael Collins, a Traveller.  The performance sees Michael going from living in the fields of Kilbeggan in a barrel top wagon to living in a tent at the top of Prosperous Hill.  It is a fast paced sequence of stories that are a microcosm of the history of the Traveller community over the past 40 years.     
Tickets €12/€10                Friends 2 for 1

Friday 17th September @ 8pm
Changing Times Theatre Company present two hilarious one act comedies Last Tango in little Grimley and Last Panto in little Grimley by David Tristram. 
Following the exploits of a small local drama group – in  the first play, the group needs to raise money quickly, so the chairman has written a play about the exploits of the various members of the village. In the second, the same four members attempt to stage a panto.  Both plays are written and performed for pure comic entertainment, a great night of fun and laughter is assured.
Directed by Noel Dillon.  Cast: Suzi O’Brien, Noel Dillon, Evelyn Killeen McCrann and Ian Collins.
Tickets €12/€10 

Wednesday 22nd September @ 8pm

Mend and Makedo Theatre Co presents Breathless by John MacKenna.
Breathless is a play about missing women, a play for our times.  A summer morning on a roadside somewhere in Ireland - four women meet - they have things in common,  each is a missing person; each has been abducted and murdered; each has a story to tell.  Breathless is a powerful, moving and electric play, by turns hilarious and desperately sad. It's a play that is authentic and beautiful, a play that will move audiences to laughter, tears and anger.
Tickets €14/€12                Friends 2 for 1

Wednesday 29th September @ 8pm
Film – Crazy Heart                                                                                                                           
Dir: Scott Cooper                   USA                2009                112 mins         Cert: 15A       
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell
Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician.
Winner - Best Actor Drama, Golden Globes 2010
Winner - Best Actor, Academy Awards 2010
€7

Thursday 7th October @ 8pm

Five Lamps Theatre Company present Dear Frankie by Niamh Gleeson
Dear Frankie celebrates the eclectic life and times of Frankie Byrne, Ireland’s first radio agony aunt.  The various and authentic problems written to her and heard throughout the play offer a fascinating insight into the hang-ups, concerns and sorrows of Ireland in the 60’s and 70’s.  For over twenty years, Frankie ruled supreme on the airwaves on matters amorous.  In an era without internet, without dedicated self-help book sections in the bookshop, where the Librarian knew your Mother so you couldn’t borrow that book, information was pretty hard to come by. Luckily, there was Frankie Byrne.  Featuring Nuala Hayes.

Wednesday 13th October

Film – His & Hers
Dir: Ken Wardrop             Ireland                 2009                80 mins        Cert: G
Rarely have the odd and the ordinary combined to such beguiling effect.  Comprising a large number of conversations with ordinary (but remarkable) Irish women, about 70 women, all from the Irish midlands, arranged in ascending order of age, tell stories about the men in their lives.  .
Winner – Best Irish Feature, Galway Film Fleadh 2009
Winner – Critics Choice Award, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2010
Winner – Feature Documentary, Irish Film and Television Awards 2010
€7

Friday 15th October @ 8pm

The Chopin Story Words & Music performed by renowned pianist Veronica McSwiney
To commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of one of the world’s greatest composers, this concert is not a standard recital, revolving, as it does, around the life story of Frédéric Chopin.  Veronica McSwiney, one of Ireland's finest pianists, presents this tribute in words and music.  Veronica will take you through Chopin’s life story and perform many of his famous works, including the Grande Polonaise op.57, the Scherzo in B Flat, the Ballade in A Flat, Etudes, waltzes etc. in a truly unique concert and insight into the life of Poland's great pianist- composer
Tickets €15/€12               

Wednesday 20th October @ 11.20am

Armed Eye Film and Theatre Company present Psycho Spagetti  
Ger Carey’s Psycho Spaghetti is a brilliant comedy written specifically for young people aged between 15 and 18. This hilarious one-man show attempts to answer the age-old question:  Just what is going on inside the teenage brain?

20th Annual Festival of One Act Drama
Friday 22nd Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th October @ 8pm
Three one act plays a night for three nights with some of Ireland’s leading amateur drama groups!  
Featuring lunch time performance of Songs of Joyce – a 50-minute musical extravaganza with songs drawn from the life and works of James Joyce - Sunday 24th October @ 1pm at Deebert House Hotel. (Light lunch included).

Adjudicator  Dolores Deacon

Tickets €10/€8                        Season Ticket €20

Wednesday 27th October @ 8pm

Chrysalis Dance presents 3 Piece Suite
Chrysalis Dance, Ireland’s only neo-classical dance company,  presents ‘3 Piece Suite’,  an eclectic triple bill, created by three versatile choreographers. Chrysalis have built a reputation for bringing accessible dance to a wide audience who are attracted to the company’s skilful classicism, contemporary music and modern themes. Choreographers Judith Sibley, Tanya McCrory and Leighton Morrison blend fluid classical ballet and intricate contemporary dance to create an exhilarating evening’s entertainment.
‘Mesmeric dancing’     Metro
‘Imaginative production with wonderfully choreographed dance numbers.’       RTE.ie

Chrysalis Dance will offer a workshop for young dancers age 13+ from 4.30pm - 5.30pm.
Tickets €15/€12        (including workshop)

Workshops

Autumn Workshops

Introduction to Creative Writing with Sheila Quealey - 8 weeks (evenings)

Creative Writing: Advanced Course - 6 weeks (daytime)

Memoir Writing – 8 weeks (evenings)

Art Classes for Adults with Robert Ryan - Tuesday 28th September – 10.30am – 12.30pm & 8 – 10pm            

Irish Traditional Music Classes with former All Ireland Champion Brian FitzGerald –

Enrolment Monday 6th September @ 6pm.

Arts & Crafts for Children with Jane Howe - Thursday 9th September  

Drama for Children with Maria O’Neill - Tuesday 7th September    

Youth Theatre Workshops with Lisa O’Connor - Friday 2nd October - 5-30-7.30pm   

Book Club re-commencing in October.  (evenings)

Contact Friars’ Gate for details.

Community and Educational Outreach Programme in association with Limerick County Council

Footsteps Youth Theatre
Actively Retired Drama Programme
Transition Year Drama Studies Programme
National School Drama Awareness Programme
Contact Friars’ Gate for details.