Pure Mental by Keith Walsh comes to Kilkenny this December

Keith Walsh’s debut play, Pure Mental will be performed in the Watergate on December 17.
Having finished up a five-year on national radio, Keith Walsh finally found a bit of time for himself. He decided to take a step back, to try and figure out what the hell was going on in his head.
Keith started to go to therapy, he struggled to put a label on the way he was feeling. What was it? Midlife Crisis? Midlife awakening? Breakdown? Well his family thought he was going mad. What he did do was go on a journey to find and chat to his demons and to find the real person underneath the fuzzy mess of stress. What happened in his childhood that made him unable to access the emotions he needed to tackle life in his 40s?
Specific in that Keith is wrestling his own demons, Pure Mental also has an everyman quality and relevance, exploring the pressures and societal expectations of the 40-something Irish male. Keith’s autobiographical tale also contains a witty and very identifiable take on growing up in Midlands Ireland in the 1980s.
Pure Mental is Keith’s first work as a playwright, and he has risen to the challenge with the help of director and dramaturg Janet Moran.
“It’s been great to have the play to focus on at this time.’ Keith says. ‘ Working with Janet has been a dream, to be honest when I realised that what I was writing might work on stage, she was the first person I thought of. I sent her what I’d written and she was up for it. So here we are. No turning back now. To be honest...it’s all a bit mental!”
Alex Rosiak, Acting Director of Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, is delighted to be supporting and presenting this tour of Pure Mental.
‘Supporting artists in the exploration of their practice and creation of new work is a core part of what we do at Riverbank Arts Centre. This project with Keith and Janet was a particularly exciting collaboration. Keith’s personal story will chime with a lot of people.”
Pure Mental is written and performed by Keith Walsh, directed by Janet Moran, designed by Phil Jennings and produced by Riverbank Arts Centre with the support of the Arts Council, Creative Ireland, Kildare County Council and Mermaid Arts Centre.