Ciarán Bermingham is an actor from Glanmire in Cork. He is currently playing Mary Lola Twankey in this year’s pantomime, Aladdin, at the Everyman Theatre, which continues until January 16.
Trevor Noah – Born A Crime. A great read, funny and terrifying at the same time. I knew very little about Trevor Noah but was a fan of his from The Daily Show. The book itself is a love letter to his mother, a slightly scary brilliant woman, who took no crap. It’s hard to imagine that his birth, a mere 37 years ago, was a crime, because his mother was a black South African woman and his father a white man.
I, like everyone else, watched so much bad TV and movies during lockdown, that it has become hard to decipher the bad from the average to the good, but during this marathon of viewing one that did stand out was Knives Out. It was fun, an old fashion who done it movie with a hit of Ellery Queen (that’s for the older readers)
Hail to the Great Wave. Two of my favourite actors were in this, Éadaoin O’Donoghue and Moe Dunford. The ridiculously talented Éadaoin also wrote it. I was gutted there wasn’t a third part that she could have gifted to me. Typical actor, always looking for the gig! With actors like this and Pat Kiernan directing and Corcadorca producing you know it’s going to be an adventure worth taking.
Wild Place, by Jack O’Rourke – huge fan, I have it on my Spotify and bought the CD for the car which was robbed (the CD, not the car, by a family member who I shan’t name, so had to buy another CD, but it’s so worth it.) Ithaca is my favourite song on it.
12 Angry Men, I saw a production many years ago in Cork Opera House with some of the country’s finest players.
I keep changing my mind on this, I jumped from a play to a musical and back to a play. I’m going to cheat and pick one that I was in. I had a tiny role in it so technically I did see it. Back in 2000 I was lucky enough to be part of the Community cast of Corcadorca’s The Trial of Jesus.
It was epic, Patrick’s Hill became the journey to Calvary with the field on top becoming Calvary. To this day, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen, not just the performances or the whole extravaganza that it was, but the reaction of the people who came to see it, the audience members who walked up Patrick’s Hill as Mark D’Aughton, who played Jesus, carried his cross.
Lots of emotional vents with YouTube. Always Sunny in Philadelphia is my go-to tv show. It is simply brilliant. Everyone was talking about Squid Game, I had a look and after the first ten minutes decided it wasn’t for me, then sat and watched the whole thing back-to-back. I loved Line of Duty and have gone back to season one, it’s so good.
Newstalk is where I get my current affairs information then I argue with them in the car, shouting at them in a very incoherent manner. Elmarie Mawe’s The Arts House on Sunday mornings is a must. Podcast – The Tommy and Hector podcast is brilliant. Also, The Always Sunny Podcast and of course The Two Norries.
Pat Kinevane in everything he’s ever done on stage. I remember seeing Forgotten and to this day it has left an impression on me, Pat is a wonder – he has the ability, to make the everyday magnificent.
Charles Laughton, the old English actor who as time goes by I resemble more and more in stature rather than talent. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). I would suggest that all actors go find his films and watch them, they are master classes.
Cora Fenton as Alice in Fred and Alice. This was a special performance for so many reasons. I was lucky enough to play Fred, but not only did I get to play Fred I got to play him opposite Cora’s Alice. Every so often you get to observe magic in the rehearsal room and watching Cora become Alice was the most magical experience for me. Cora’s performance as Alice will stay with me for ever.
Many moons ago I was lucky enough to get a small part on a big show, Game of Thrones. One afternoon, we were all sitting by the fire in the hotel nursing our suffering heads, Major name dropping coming up: there we were, Kit Harrington, Richard Madden, Michelle Fairley, Katie Dickies and I, and in walks this man who greets us all with great enthusiasm.
The others could see I had no idea who this man was and left me hanging, I stood and smiled at the gentleman asking had we been introduced the night before. He smiled and said no we hadn’t met the previous night and then I smiled and asked his name. He replied, “I’m the guy who created you, I’m George R.R. Martin…” I can still hear him laughing. He was, and still is, a great guy.
The 1960s in London. By the ’60s social change was well under way in London the rest of the UK was a decade behind, and we Ireland were further behind still (the Church still had its hand on our throat) The music – The Beatles, Elvis, the clothes – they were cool without trying. The whole sense of discovery.
Novelists like John Braine and Alan Sillitoe described the lives of ordinary people. Theatre producers like Joan Littlewood and George Devine recruited new playwrights, directors, and actors to bring something of the real people and their lives onstage. It was a time for change.
