WHEN West Clare-based Crack’d Spoon Theatre Company take to the stage in Glór for two nights on April 15 and 16, the group will be heavily reliant upon the Daly family to entertain the audience.
Mick Daly directs The Salvage Shop by Jim Nolan, while his daughters Siobhán and Blainagh, play Rita Shanahan and Katie Tansey respectively.
However, all of the actors in the play have significant performances to their credit, most notably Alan McNamara, who recently moved to West Clare.
Alan has been acting professionally for more than 15 years, with a CV that includes a two-year run as Lar in Fair City, film roles in Durango, Flick and The Black Suit. He is also a member of Cata Isle Mime Theatre Company in West Clare and is a professional percussionist, who has performed in America and Ireland.
Alan’s role as Stephen in The Salvage Shop is supported by Simon Latham, (Costello) a familiar face in community theatre and by Dave Hanley, who plays one of the principal characters, Sylvie Tansey. Ken Blowers is well known in the West Clare theatrical and musical scene and his character, Eddie Tansey is a dominant figure in the play.
The Salvage Shop, set in the seaside town of Garris, hinges on the fraught relationship between Sylvie Tansey, maestro of the local brass band, ho is reluctant to relinquish his position and his forebearing son, Eddie.
Director Mick Daly, who is originally from Dublin, has 20 years of acting experience in film, commercials and theatre. In fact the name of the theatre company stems from Mick’s childhood in Dublin.
“I was delighted with the name because when I was a kid we used to have a cracked spoon in the house,” he told The Clare Champion. “We’d all fight over the cracked spoon because it was slightly bigger than the rest of the spoons and you thought you were getting more to eat. I still remember that spoon,” he reflected. Although now immersed in local theatre, Mick once felt that treading the boards was not something for the ordinary man.
“I always wanted to get into theatre but never thought I’d see the day it would come my way. I always thought, I don’t usually use the word elite but that it was a bit out of reach,” he explained.
Since moving to West Clare, more than two decades ago, Mick has donated a significant portion of his time to community and youth work. For example, along with Dave O’Brien, whom he played in a band with, Mick tried his hand at teaching Kilrush youngsters how to play the guitar.
“I discovered that once kids had an opportunity of sitting together, they teach each other and we were left way behind,” he laughed.
As for directing his daughters in The Salvage Shop, there is the odd moment when Mick’s daughter Siobhán feels like she is a child again.
“She’s finding it difficult to be still told by her da what to do,” Mick smiled.
Rita Shanahan, played by Siobhán, is the romantic companion to Eddie Tansey. Siobhán’s professional training is evident as she works to sustain and support Eddie, who is trying to come to terms with his relationship with his father. Siobhán has studied acting in Cork and Finland and has acted in several productions in those cities.
Blainagh Troy – Daly plays Katie Tansey, daughter of Eddie.  So intensely involved is she that her personal identity is thoroughly hidden. Blainagh is making her acting debut in The Salvage Shop. She has, however, performed in local musicals and sings in the folk group in St Senan’s Church, Kilrush. There is another Daly involvement, however, in Jim Nolan’s play.
Mick’s wife Nora has been active in local productions for years having been twice awarded first prize in the supporting actress category, for her performance in The Field by John B Keane and in Same Old Moon. In this production, her principal task is a support role in her family’s theatrical venture, working behind the scenes, managing the myriad details involved in the production.
The Salvage Shop by Jim Nolan will be staged in Glór with curtain up at 8pm.
The full cast is as follows: director, Mick Daly; Dave Hanley (Silvie Tansey), Ken Blowers (Eddie Tansey), Alan McNamara, (Stephen Kearney), Blainagh Troy (Katie Tansey), Siobhán Daly (Rita Shanahan) and Simon Latham (Josie Costello).