Colin’s Old Work (Theater)
This covers all of Colin’s professional work in theater. It does not include plays or performances from his Youth Theatre or Gaiety School days (except those that are listed on his resume). Obviously, video of these performances is not likely to ever emerge, but images from the performances, rehearsals and cast events are available in some cases. If I have additional content from these performances, it will be linked to in the play’s details.
Eclipse
Theatre Run: Early to Mid 1997 Company: Droichead Youth Theatre Role: Glue Boy Additional Content: none
A poetic drama set in Cornwall in 1999. An unseen group of adults gather on the headland to watch the eclipse of the sun, while their teenaged offspring - MIDNIGHT, Tulip, Klondike, Glue Boy and Polly and Jane - are on the beach below. A strange girl, Lucy appears to challenge each and every one of the young people and then vanishes. The action of the play alternates between the beach and the police station, where they try to make sense of and come to terms with Lucy's disappearance.
This was the play that made our Colin decide he wanted to be an actor at the tender age of 16. Every year since 1995, the Royal National Theatre in London has organized a festival of sorts across the UK for youth theater groups. A collection of plays are commissioned, from which participating youth groups each choose one to perform for the event. Youth groups are then paired with nearby participating professional theaters, who host the plays with the same bells and whistles provided (and required) of professional theatre groups. At the end of the event, one performance of each commissioned play is chosen to travel to London and be performed at the Royal National Theatre. In 1997, the NT Connections program commissioned the play Eclipse by Simon Armitage, among other plays, and the Drogheda based Droichead Youth Theatre performed it, with Darren Thornton directing and Colin in the role of Glue Boy. The character is named such due to his frequent sniffing of glue, and there is a really great essay here with theories about the mysteries presented by the play that gives a lot of insights into the content of it. The DYT performance of the play was chosen to move on to the National Theatre on the Olivier Stage, where it earned a standing ovation from the audience, as well as an award from Anthony Minghella. The whole event made quite an impression on young Colin, who decided then that acting was what he wanted to pursue.
Aoife and Isobel
Theater Run: June 2001 Company: Project Arts Centre / Gaiety School of Acting Role: George Additional Content: none
No synopsis found.
This is actually two separate one act plays performed on the same night, which has created a lot of confusion on various websites, where they are sometimes described as one play and sometimes described as two. Both plays were written by Gavin Kostick specifically for the Gaiety School of Acting’s showcase for the 2001 graduating class. Aoife was directed by Jimmy Fay, while Isobel was directed by Eric Weitz. Considering Colin lists Jimmy Fay as the director on his CV and website, it’s likely that Aoife was the play he took part in. The only thing I could find that references the actual theme or content of the play mentioned it was a “dark medieval thriller” - but that appeared to be about the second play, Isobel. Aoife may have had an entirely different theme.
What the Dead Want
Theater Run: October 2002 Company: Project Arts Centre / Gaiety School of Acting Role: Tom Additional Content: none
What do you do when things are never the same again? How do you tell the difference between an unprecedented change in our understanding of the so-called space-time continuum, and the apparent fulfillment of the wackier passages of John of Patmos’ book of Revelations? On a more practical level, how do you deal with the persistent refusal of the dead to lie down? Presented to recent acclaim as part of the Gaiety School of Acting graduation show, What the Dead Want probes such timely matters as the historical legacy of the First World War; the difficulty of maintaining Irish neutrality in the face of our economy’s complicity with the Western military/industrial complex; how to deal with Holocaust deniers; women’s appreciation of men’s arses; and the potentially revolutionary implications of a Robbie Williams song. What the Dead Want: they call it postmodernist, but it’s actually just realistic.
This play was a surreal comedy about the “differently deceased” who, owing to some unspecified imbalance in the natural order, continue to socialize with the living. I lifted that from the one and only article I was able to find that had anything worthwhile about the content of the play ;) The play was written by Alex Johnston and Jimmy Fay (who also directed it), working together as Bedrock Productions. It was performed at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin from May-June of 2002 and served as the end of year “showcase” for the 2002 graduating class of The Gaiety School of Acting. The play was performed again in October as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. According to GSA’s site, Colin graduated from the GSA in 2001, which makes it unlikely that he would’ve been involved in the 2002 class’s showcase, meaning he most likely joined the production for the Fringe Festival run in October. The Irish Times called the play “the high water mark for the GSA showcase” in a review, like, five years later, so I imagine it must have been pretty good.
Leaving
Theater Run: Summer 2002, March - April 2003 Company: Quare Hawks Theatre Co. Role: Noel Additional Content: here
It begins at Christmas on a farm that supports a married couple and their two sons, one (Sean) helping to work the farm and the other (Noel) away at a Dublin university. Noel comes home for the holiday a little early, and it is soon apparent that he is a sensitive and troubled youth. Sean is the reverse, lusty and irresponsible, a fun-loving extrovert. And yet, in the next few weeks, he is the one who hangs himself in the chicken-house. Under the pressure of the tragedy, the close-knit family begins to disintegrate. The mother accuses the father of self-indulgence and a lack of authority, and he tells her that she nagged her son to death. Noel alleges that she would have preferred him to die, and she lashes back by agreeing and suggesting that he may be gay - not a real man. Sean's fiancée is caught between them all, no longer knowing the direction of her life. Time passes, and the family seem reconciled to their loss; but now we know the abyss that lies under their feet, and how fragile their normality is.
This play got a lot of great reviews, lauding the cast’s performances and the sensitive approach to the serious and rather dark subject matter. I couldn’t find confirmation anywhere as to whether Colin’s character is actually gay or merely suspected of it by others, even though multiple reviews and accounts mentioned the subject. It’s possible this fact was left up to the audience to decide. One review mentioned that the brothers were both in love with the same person... which could have been conjecture, as I didn’t see it mentioned elsewhere. Susan Conley, in her review, said this about Colin: “Brother Noel (Colin O'Donoghue) seemed a more likely candidate [for suicide], come down home from college in Dublin snarling all sorts of existential angst all over the shop..." Oh, Colin. Your angst has always been top notch! For a full list of folks involved in this production, click here. Thanks to Colin’s co-star, Conan Sweeny, and the play’s director, Liam Halligan, we have some nice pictures from this production and the cast behind-the-scenes. Colin must have enjoyed working with these two, as he joined up with them again for his next theatrical jaunt...
The Dream of a Summer Day
Theater Run: March - April 2005 Company: Storytellers Theatre Co. Role: Various (see below) Additional Content: here
The Dream of a Summer Day celebrates the remarkable journey of an outsider in search of a home. Lafcadio Hearn, the Gothic writer, begins his travels when his mother brings him from his native Greece to Victorian Ireland. As a young man, he braves the rough and tumble ghettos of Cincinnati until, disillusioned with the sordid capitalism of the West, he sets sail for Japan – the otherworldly setting of his extraordinary stories…
This strange little play was an artistic melding of theater, music, choreography and creative storytelling. A cast of five actors (Colin, Conan Sweeny, Maria Tecce, Aoife Moloney, and Diane O’Keeffe) played various roles throughout the course of the play, depicting Hearn’s Irish upbringing and eventual move to Japan and complete embrace of Japanese life and culture. As a result, the sets and costuming traverses continents to present an artistic portrayal of the man’s life. Reviews seem to have been positive, with people lauding the otherworldly presentation of the play, the immersive set design and the innovative role of music and choreography. Colin played guitar and mandolin in this play. A full list of people involved in the production can be found here. A plethora of images from this production are available, thanks mostly to Colin’s co-star, Conan Sweeny, and the play’s director, Liam Halligan.
Eugene Onegin: The Roadshow
Theater Run: May 2006 Company: sOMETHINGdIFFERENT Roles: Onegin, Raevsky, Tsar Nicholas, D’Anthes Additional Content: none
Alexander Pushkin has been wounded in a duel with his wife's lover. The most severe wound is his hurt pride. As he outlines the story of his most famous novel, Eugene Onegin, he comes to realise that his title character shares many traits with the man who has so humiliated him.
Oh, man. This play. Man. Okay, so... from what I can tell, this was a crazy, crazy play. Eugene Onegin is a well-known novel by Alexander Pushkin, and has been done numerous times as a play... but this is not that play. This is that play... turned into a roadshow. A game show, if you will. I only saw positive things said about the cast’s performances, but there were some confused and at times scathing reviews of the play itself. Martin Murphy was the man behind most of everything - as the playwright, director, producer and a cast member. My favorite review of this play can basically be paraphrased as: “Martin Murphy is an unstoppable juggernaut... but perhaps someone, somewhere, should’ve stopped him at some point.” The main star of the production, Seamus Moran, openly stated to interviewers that he did not want to be in the play, had said no multiple times, and was basically badgered into it. And, frankly, he didn’t sound like he was too pleased with the decision. In case you need more proof of the strangeness of this production, there’s the official poster:
That’s a B+W full length censored version and a close-up full color uncensored version. Nothing but class. For a full list of folks involved (for better or worse) with this production, go here. Bear in mind, this site claims Colin is the producer for the play, but I found no evidence anywhere that this is true. All other sources say the play’s producer is Martin Murphy.
Outlying Islands
Theater Run: September 2006 Company: Island Theatre Co. Role: Robert Additional Content: here
Summer 1939. Two young naturalists from Cambridge university, Robert and John, arrive on a remote Hebridean island to conduct a wildlife survey on behalf of the government. Robert is combative, provocative and curious, John is reserved and conservative. They are accompanied by Kirk, the islands tenant, and his young niece Ellen. When Kirk inadvertently reveals to the boys the true reason for their island survey, Robert and John are drawn into a dark primeval world of raw emotion, sexual passion, voyeurism and murder.
Just when you thought this play was already dark, the real reason for the ornithologists’ trip to the island turns out to have something to do with (spoiler alert!) a planned test bombing of the island with Anthrax. Cheery! Things take an even cheerier turn at the end, when Colin’s character throws himself off a cliff. Uh, spoiler alert. Again. There’s also nudity (including Colin), sex (not Colin) and voyeurism (Colin again). Critics’ comments about the play itself are hilarious, since half of them are all “murder! government plots! human nature!” and the other half are all “everybody’s naked and the audience is watching them watch each other being naked” and it’s hard to believe everybody’s talking about the same damn play. This is, incidentally, the play Colin was talking about at SDCC in 2017, when he regaled us all with the lovely tale about squatting onstage, soaking wet and in nothing but a pair of tighty whiteys, and looking up to find his mum. At any rate, the play was written by David Greig, directed by Karl Wallace, and starred Sam Corry as John, Ailsa Courtney as Ellen, and Gerard Murphy as Kirk. It ran for only two weeks at the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick, Ireland, and seemed to get good reviews from critics.
Moonlight Mickeys
Theater Run: November - December 2006 Company: Calipo Theatre Co. Role: Big Mickey Additional Content: here
Dundalk Train station. 1922. Local school teacher, Big Mickey Murphy, lies in a pool of his own blood, jellied in the belly by a gunner in the gutter. Is the murderer his own brother, Small Mickey Murphy, a hardened republican who'd sacrifice anything for the freedom of his country? We see the the last week of Big Mickey's life. A week that included murder, betrayal, and a daring prison break with the worst scroungers this side of Louth...
There were two runs of this play by Calipo. The first run was commissioned as part of the 150 years celebration honoring the County Gaol in Dundalk. This run took place in 2005, was directed by the playwright (Colin Thornton), and had Peter Daly and Nick Lee as the two billed cast members. Colin’s run took place at the end of 2006, was directed by the playwright’s brother (Darren Thornton), and Colin starred in it opposite Peter Daly (with a silent cameo by Janet Moran). Given the higher profile of the events surrounding the first run, that’s the run most media and reviews online are about. However, some content is available for Colin’s run, and the reviews point to it being a fun and light-hearted piece put together for pure enjoyment - and people seemed to like it. Surprisingly, despite the otherwise positive responses folks seemed to have to the play, this is the only play I found a critical review of Colin’s work in. The Sunday Independent (Ireland) criticized both of the actors for not possessing the range or experience needed to portray their main characters and the various caricatures of other criminals their roles encompassed - something the Irish Times literally said was no challenge whatsoever for either actor. C’est la vie.
Sky Road
Theater Run: October 2007 Company: Theatre Royal, Waterford Role: Johnny Conroy Additional Content: none
Frank Conroy has just been made Minister for the Environment and returns home in triumph for the local lap of honour, to his wife, two sons, a daughter and her investigative journalist boyfriend. Instead of celebration, the family are plunged into a moral dilemma of a fatal car-crash where a girl dies and the family of the politician take the instructions of the mother and lie to cover up family involvement. The son, Stephen, who accepts the blame, seeks refuge in the heavens via his telescope rather than deal with a possible family conspiracy to cause a miscarriage of justice. Act 2 resumes four years later and the Minister resigns to put pressure on the then Taoiseach to resign and it opens up a complex family dilemma about truth and consequences.
This play seemed to get a bit of a lukewarm reception - nothing really bad, but nothing really great, either. Most of the praise seemed to be focused on the playwright more than the finished production, as Jim Nolan is a respected Irish playwright. The set seems to have been purposely sparse, with the cast at times just sitting on an otherwise empty stage, which seemed to not impress most critics and audiences. One critic cited the awkward political landscape for the play’s issues, saying that the juxtaposition of the political issues with the family’s issues just didn’t really work for them. For a complete list of all involved with this production, click here. This picture is all I could find with Colin:
Othello
Theater Run: January - March 2007 Company: Second Age Theatre Co. Role: Cassio Additional Content: here
Jealously, deceit and suspicion are woven into the great tapestry which is Othello. We watch in horror as Othello’s noble spirit is systematically destroyed and the poisonous stench of distrust chokes all those around him.
This play seems to be a relatively standard production of Othello, set during WWII on the island of Cyprus. It’s hard to find much of anything about it, which makes sense since it seems this play was primarily performed for fifth year students around the country, to introduce them to Shakespeare and theater. Adding to the difficulties in searching for content from this play is the fact that several of the cast members seem to have made playing in Othello a career choice, and the fact that Second Age did a run of this play every five years or so for decades. Reviews seemed to be pleasant enough, with most citing the beautiful sets and costumes, and the solid performances by the cast. Sara Keating of the Irish Times pointed out what a heart throb Colin was, of course, and how the teenage girls in the audience were still going on about what a “ride” he was after the play. And the Instituto Italiano di Cultura’s review for this play also provided me with my new favorite diss ever (thankfully, not aimed at our Colin): “Simon O’Gorman as Iago played somebody well, but it was not Iago.” That’s fucking savage.
Walking the Road
Theater Run: June - July 2007 Company: axis: Ballymun Role: Francis Ledwidge Additional Content: here
A century after his death, the poet and road worker Francis Ledwidge still haunts Irish literature. A determined Nationalist; he was killed by a stray shell while building a road behind the front line in Flanders, just before his thirtieth birthday. Walking the Road is one poet’s re-imagining of another poet’s life. Hovering in the half-light of memories, it vividly and imaginatively tries to follow Ledwidge on one final journey after his death as he finds himself once again walking the road that he once walked as a shop boy from Rathfarnham to his native Slane in County Meath on the night on which he wrote his first poem. Now, enduring the same walk again after his death, alongside him walk the ghosts of those who touched his life and the unseen ghosts of all the other young men – from Ireland, Germany and elsewhere – who died amid the mud of Flanders. But where are they walking to and will any of them ever reach home?
With a cast of only two people, Colin played the main role of Francis Ledwidge, while his co-star Kelly Hickey played... literally everyone else. What? As a result, his co-star tended to be the one talked about whenever the performers themselves were mentioned - which was seldom, really. The main draw of this play seemed to be the playwright himself, Dermot Bolger, and the subject of the play, Francis Ledwidge. The play was part of the events surrounding the 90-year anniversary of Ledwidge’s death, and most of the talk about the play was focused on the emotional impact of the production, as opposed to the performances, themselves. Although some folks did mention Hickey’s masterful handling of, you know, every single other character in the whole thing. For a full list of everyone else involved in the production, click here. And yes, Colin is on the cover of the official publication of the play :)
The Taming of the Shrew
Theater Run: January - February 2008 Company: Rough Magic Theatre Co. Role: Tranio Additional Content: none
Re-imagining Shakespeare's most sparkling and controversial comedy in wheeler-dealer rural Ireland, Rough Magic's Shrew is a contemporary take on a play that hinges on fraudulence, farce and bad behaviour. With an A-list ensemble including Pauline McLynn and Owen Roe as the sparring protagonists, The Taming of the Shrew features live tango, loose morals and gombeen chic - proving once again that women are from Venus and men are from Mullingar!
Just in case you skipped over that last paragraph, assuming you know the basic synopsis of The Taming of the Shrew, you may want to go back and take the time to read it, because this is not your usual Shakespearean farce. This is an altogether different sort of farce, taking the classic play and setting it in 1970′s rural Ireland. The play originally ran in 2006, with another actor in the role of Tranio, but Colin took over the role when the play toured nationally in 2008. The play seems to have been very well-received, with audiences and critics alike loving the silly rompiness of the whole thing. I just made up that word, but given the spirit of this play, I think we’ll let that slide. There’s actually a great lot of content about the play itself online, since it was quite popular and even won a bevy of awards, but unfortunately, a lot of the content is about the 2006 run and none of it actually shows our Colin, save for the image below. Boo. For a complete list of folks involved in the production, click here.
For a retrospective look at Colin’s early film work, click here.
