Two local children are enjoying the spotlight as they perform in Portlaoise Musical Society’s ‘Made in Dagenham.’
Talented Oliver Treacy (10) and Aoife Cathcart (9) are combining school with the stage as they take on important roles.
Oliver shares the stage with his mother, Hilary, while Aoife’s father, Alex, also treads the boards.
Oliver who plays the part of Graham O’Grady, is from The Heath and is in 4th class in Gaelscoil Phortlaoise.
He attends Curtain Call stage school, run by Karen Hackett, and has done a number of shows with the school, most recently playing Bruce Bogtrotter in ‘Matilda’. He has also taken part in ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Annie.’
He was previously with Portlaoise Musical Society as one of the children playing Coalhouse Walker in the 2019 performance of ‘Ragtime.’
He will next appear on stage in January with Portlaoise Pantomime Group in ‘Cinderella’, and then in March with Curtain Call in ‘Wicked.’
His mother, Hilary, and grandparents have a history of musical theatre in Boyle, Co Roscommon, and Hilary has been a member of Portlaoise Musical Society since 2006. His grandad, Denis Costello, was a founding member of Boyle Musical Society in 1984.
Boyle Musical Society is coincidentally also on stage this week with ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’ Oliver’s grandmother, Anne, played many backstage roles with Boyle Musical Society over the years while his mother and aunt Denise performed.
His big sister, Isabelle, is also a member of Curtain Call and has also performed in many of its shows.
She has also taken part in Portlaoise Musical Society’s 2018 production of ‘Titanic’ and was in Portlaoise Panto Group’s production of ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘The Winning Lotto Ticket’ in 2022.
At the time he was in ‘Ragtime’, Oliver was undergoing treatment for ALL, a form of leukaemia, but has thankfully made a full recovery.
When he is not performing, he enjoys playing football with The Heath U-11s and soccer with T&S Utd U-11s.
While ‘Made in Dagenham’ involves lots of late nights, Oliver takes them in his stride. “My mum is in the show too and she has my coat ready as soon as the show finishes, and we go straight home so I can get to bed.
“She also lets me have a little lie-in in the morning, but I still have to be on time for school,” Oliver told Laois Today.
“Rehearsals weren’t too bad. Aoife and I didn’t have to go to as many as the adults, and they were mostly on Sundays,” he said.
While there is some colourful language in the show, Hilary who has the role of Emma, one of the factory girls, tackled the issue in advance.
“I spoke to Oliver about the language when we were rehearsing, and how it fits the story and the characters. It is mostly Beryl who does the swearing, and he gets that she is the larger than life character in the show.”
Aoife is very excited to be playing the part of Sharon O’Grady, sharing the stage with her father, Alex.
From the moment she saw the show in Thurles last year with him, she was determined to get cast in the role. “She has had an amazing time working with her stage family made up of Eoghan Fingleton, Aoife Dignan and her stage brother, Oliver Treacy,” Alex said.
Aoife (9) is a pupil in the Holy Family Senior School. This is her second time on stage with Portlaoise Musical Society, having played the role of Coalhouse junior in its production of ‘Ragtime,’ sharing the stage with her mother, Georgina Ireland.
Earlier this year Aoife was in a production of ‘The Sound of Music’ with Kill Musical Society, where she played one of the Von Trapp children along with her sister, Ceola, who is in third year in Scoil Chríost Rí.
She has also performed in the Dunamaise Theatre on a number of occasions with Curtain Call where she has played parts in ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Matilda’ and is very excited to be playing the upcoming part of Mal in next year’s end of year production of ‘Descendants.’
Aoife has also done a bit of screen acting when she appeared in the Christmas promotional advertisement for Shalom TV which was used for all its European television networks.
As well as enjoying singing, she plays the piano, and has completed RIAM examinations in both.
“Rehearsals weren’t too bad. They were all in the evening and then on Sundays as well. Aoife and Oliver were so prepared that they weren’t required at all the rehearsals, so it was never a problem at all, Alex said.
“This week has obviously been busier with the shows being a little earlier than they have been in the past so it’s a bit of a rush to get there on time but she has managed really really well. She is a bit tired but we’ve got her to have a rest during the day before we go to the show,” he said.
“As to the strong language, when listening to the soundtrack Aoife replaces the words with something that rhymes with it so she’s not swearing like a trooper going around the house at home thankfully,” said Alex who plays a number of parts in the show.
“The main part I play is the antagonist Mr Tooley who was head of Ford America and comes over to Britain to break up the strike. It doesn’t go well for him in the end. I am bit of a panto villain but it’s a very fun part to play.”
