Longford's BackstageTheatre Group announce Spring play

In 2018 the Gate Theatre commissioned Roddy Doyle to write a stage version of his much loved Dublin novel The Snapper.

The play offers a warm, frank and wickedly funny account of family life and pregnancy in Northside Dublin in the 1980s.

The second novel in Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy is a slice of time. It captures our urban capital as it's about to go through fundamental changes.

From Jimmy Rabbit's “You're wha?", and Sharon Rabbit's reply of “I'm pregnant” the play hurtles along with fun, pathos and a good deal of moral observation.

It's the story of one Sharon Rabbitte, a 20 year old living with her parents who becomes pregnant after an encounter with a man she’d rather forget. She refuses to tell anyone who the father is.

Sharon keeps the child and slowly starts to tell her family and friends. She quickly becomes the talk of the town and there is much discussion on who the identity of the father could be. That is until one unlikely candidate starts to come to the fore.

This week Backstage Theatre Group have announced that they are to stage the play as their next show: “Delighted to announce our Spring production of “The Snapper” welcoming back Charlie McGuinness as director. Details on auditions to follow,” the social media post said of their plans.

The Longford group once again enlisted the talent of Carrigallen drama professional Charles McGuinness to guide them for their 2024 production. McGuinness directed last year's highly acclaimed presentation of Sive.

Backstage Theatre Group wowed audiences on two nights recently as they delivered an hilarious comedy.

The drama collective continued their 35th anniversary programme by staging their production of The Hotel Room by Anthony Burgoyne, directed by Olly Kenny.

The standard of the last two show has set a high bar for the group and this is sure to attract a lot of attention for both the auditions and the staging of The Snapper itself.