Exciting new musical drama, Letters from the Front, set to enthrall Kilkenny audiences at Watergate

Letters from the Front — an exciting new musical drama — will have its premier in the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny on Wednesday, March 22.

Written and directed by Kilkenny man Don O’Connor and Carlow’s Ollie Hennessy, this original musical drama tells the story of three families caught up in the turmoil of World War I.

A story of love, hope, despair and loss, it follows the tale of a young Irish couple Willie and Eileen from rural County Kilkenny who are forced to separate when Willie enlists to fight on the Western Front.

As Ireland is preparing to fight for independence from Britain, Willie makes the unpopular decision to fight on the side of the King against the Kaiser’s troops in France.

A young German boy Heinrich, falsifies his true age in order to fight under the German flag, abandoning his widowed mother while an embittered British officer prepares to lead his troops against the enemy in the trenches of Northern France.

The poignant drama pulls no punches in depicting the horrors encountered by both German and British troops in the mud soaked trenches during the Great War and examines the effect of the war on those left at home as their husbands, fathers and sons marched into battle.

INSPIRED
Inspired by real letters written by soldiers and family members from 1914-1918, the drama has its origins during the Kilkenny Yulefest festival2018 when a production entitled A Silent Night was presented in James Stephens Military Barracks. It featured local actors and members of the Defence Forces with assistance from Kilkenny County Council and Creative Ireland.

Encouraged by the overwhelming reaction of the general public, Don and Ollie spent more than two years developing the story further into a full length drama featuring seven original musical compositions.

Letters from the Front features a cast of some of Kilkenny’s top performers, among them Brendan Corcoran, Ciaran Dunphy , Mary Buggy, Clare Gibbs, Fergal Millar,Shane O’Keeffe, Mike Kelly ,Rachel Leydon and Declan Taylor.

The original story with original music runs at the Watergate Theatre nightly at 8pm from March 22-25 and promises to be an event not to be missed.

TICKETS
Tickets are available via the theatre e webpage at www.watergatetheatre.com or at 056-7761674.