Centre Stage Professional Productions

ALSO IN THE REPERTOIRE

On a more intimate scale, 'MISCHIEF and MADNESS - An Encounter with Jonathan Swift', commissioned originally by the W.E.A. and 'A SUBLIME DISCORD - George Sand and Frederick Chopin'', commisioned by the Belfast Festival at Queen's and both written by Roma Tomelty, are permanently in the Repertoire and are performed as requested.

They are both intimate if powerful pieces, suitable for playing in almost any space and with a minimum of complex technical requirement. They have been in everything from a drawing room (admittedly quite large) in a stately home to the full stage of the Arts Theatre in Belfast, and are excellent as 'Festival' fare, combining as they both do the theatricallity of dramatised lives with the pleasures of listening to live musicians and singers perform Chopin, Handel or Gray

A SUBLIME DISCORD - George Sand and Frederick Chopin

It is generally accepted that the devotion of the notorious French novelist George Sand to pianist-composer Chopin during their nine year relationship prolonged his short life and provided an emotional security which gave him strength and freedom to compose.Roma Tomelty, using Sand's words, has dramatised a short account of their affaire from Sand's point of view.

Roma Tomelty as George Sand

Newry pianist-composer Patrick Coyle is at the piano as Chopin. The play is set in Sand's drawing room and is staged in costume, and not, as recitals are usually done, in evening dress.The music includes many Chopin favourites and was commissioned by the Belfast Festival at Queen's for its Lunchtime Series in the Harty Room. It premièred with great success in Newry, played its Festival spot in Belfast where Rathcol wrote for the Belfast Telegraph - “...(the production) held the attention as (it) unfolded... Patrick Coyle as Chopin...performances of splendid technical finish and musical understanding... A riveting and rewarding experience from both artists...”
It went on to be a a hit during last year's Edinburgh Festival at the Demarco Foundation of European Art, rating a four star review in The Scotsman who said - “... What could be more blissful? Very little, and the Demarco Foundation does not disappoint. Roma Tomelty plays with a calm dignity ... music which is played brilliantly... There are many ways of passing an hour in Edinburgh and this is one of the most pleasant...”

The Music includes:

Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1 in A major; Fantasie Impromptu Op. 66 in C sharp minor;
'Raindrop.' Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 in D flat major; Ballade Op. 47 No. 3 in A flat major;
Sonata Op. 35 in B flat minor (1st Mvmt.); Nocturne in C sharp minor (Posthumus); Waltz Op. 34 No. 3 in F major

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MISCHIEF and MADNESS - An Encounter with Jonathan Swift

In 1740, five years before his death , Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin, Satirist, Poet, Novelist and sometime Vicar of Kilroot, Co Antrim, is returning from a final visit to his friends Sir Arthur and Lady Acheson at Markethill , Co Armagh. No longer able to ride any great distance, he is forced to spend the night at a 'hedge Inn' near Newry in the company of two musicians and a solicitous servant named Hannah. Weary from his travelling and suffering from his frequent fits of giddiness, his heart lacerated with a savage indignation, he needs rest...

Mark Mulholland as Swift

A servant of God and a man incapable of merely looking without seeing all, caustic in extreme, projector of 'The Modest Proposal' - argually the finest piece of satirical writing in the language, haunted by his two great loves, Stella and Vanessa, outspoken in his criticism of the treatment of the Irish by the English, the author of the Drapier's letters who confounded a government with 'nothing but pen ink and paper', finds rest elusive as he pauses en route to Dublin and his final descent into madness. Mark Mulholland, Ulster's finest character actor gives a 'tour de force' as the enigmatic Dean, ably supported by Dolores McNally, with music, including Scarlatti, Bach and Handel, from Mark Bowman, (tenor) and Patrick Coyle (piano).