Arts Week with Judy Murphy

When John Carty was a child of “maybe eight or 10”, his mother sent him to drama lessons. “Maybe she thought she was sending me to elocution classes, he jokes. Whatever her motive, Sligo-born John who will be in Galway next week with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, was bitten by the acting bug.

He went on to study at Trinity College’s Samuel Beckett Centre, graduating in 1988 and worked for several Dublin theatre companies before returning to Sligo in 1991.

That was the year that Niall Henry, his childhood classmate from Walter McDonagh’s drama school – who had studied mime and performing arts in Paris –  was setting up Blue Raincoat Theatre Company and wanted people to get involved. John answered the call.

“My poor mother,” he laughs. “Saving up to send me to Trinity in the 1980s and I end up back home.”

Still, it was a good move on many levels. Blue Raincoat has made a tremendous contribution to Irish theatre, touring with shows including Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Third Policeman, The Bald Soprano and Shackleton. And John, who continued his training with leading voice and mime artists in the UK and US, has been key to its success.

He and Sandra O’Malley – another company stalwart – will perform Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days next Tuesday, February 21, at the Town Hall Theatre as part of a national tour, the company’s 20th.

They first presented Happy Days in the Factory space in Sligo last year, when Niall directed, and are now re-rehearsing before hitting the road.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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