Lifestyle – Portumna actor Peter Claffey is currently appearing in A Whistle in the Dark at the Abbey Theatre, where he is part of a superb cast. The former rugby player is now forging a career on screen and stage as he tells Elizabeth Garner and Jim Hynes.

Success often depends on giving 100%.  This is a truth that rising star Peter Claffey, a rugby player turned actor, knows all too well.

The Portumna man is about to make his stage debut in Tom Murphy’s visceral A Whistle in the Dark on the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre. Directed by Jason Byrne, the impressive cast includes Seán McGinley and Brian Gleeson.

The drama, set in Coventry, revolves around a gripping family confrontation. On one side is Michael, the eldest of the Carney sons. On the other are his father and brothers, a criminal gang of brawling, hard-drinking, Irish immigrants from Mayo.

“They’re obsessed with fighting and are rough oul’ hard men,” Peter observes.

A Whistle in the Dark is a powerful portrayal of tribal violence and the devastation it wreaks, despite attempts to stand against it. It’s Murphy’s best-known and most-performed work, being hugely popular on the amateur drama circuit. It premiered in London on September 11, 1961, and had its Irish premiere in 1962 at the Abbey, to where it’s now returning.

Peter is playing Iggy Carney in this production.

“Iggy is the quietest of them but also the most formidable in a sense,” the actor says. “He only speaks when he feels he needs to but when he does speak, he’s heard.”

It’s an incredible role for an up-and-coming actor and Peter has immersed himself in the production, also learning about the play’s history.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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