With productions as diverse as Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting," the first ever Irish production of South Park creator Trey Parker's musical "Cannibal" and a radio broadcast of HG Well’s sci-fi classic "The War Of The Worlds," The groundbreaking Devious Theatre Company in Kilkenny are showing they can turn their hand to just about anything. They have also awoken a new generation of theatre goers in the marble city. Formed in 2006 as an alternative to the pub scene and gigs and cinemas that are standard fare for a night out, their aim is to create, develop and produce professional and dynamic theatre in Kilkenny and in the south east of the country. Where at all possible they try to perform new and little before seen works. Their manifesto is "To create theatre that’s not academic or precious or stuffy, just live performance delivered as live performance should be: immediate, energetic, engaging and always entertaining."

Their first production was Heart Shaped Vinyl, which was written by John Morton. The show was first performed in 2006 in Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny. It was also performed in Maynooth in December 2006 by NUI Maynooth Dramasoc. The show returned to Cleere’s theatre again in 2007 and sold out for four straight nights. It's final performance was as a one-night-only charity performance for Enable Ireland on Saturday in October of the same year. Heart Shaped Vinyl is described as "A comedy about five unrelated couples in Ireland over the course of 5 decades, from the 60’s right up to the present day. The play explores how the music we listen to effects the relationships in our lives and how our perceptions and affections can be coloured by the right song, in the right moment with the right (or wrong) person. Doesn’t every song have the perfect moment and every moment have the perfect song?"

Devious' first large-scale production was "Cannibal, The Musical" and was performed in the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny. The show is true story of the only person convicted of cannibalism in America - Alferd Packer. The sole survivor of an ill-fated trip to the Colorado Territory, he tells his side of the harrowing tale to news reporter Polly Pry as he awaits his execution. With songs including “When I Was On Top Of You”, “Lets Build A Snowman” and “Hang The Bastard”, Trey Parker's distinct sense of humour is stamped all over the show. This was received by large crowds and excellent reviews.

Next up for the company was Irvine Welsh’s "Trainspotting" in The Watergate Theatre in June 2008. It was the first time that the play was performed there. The play is Harry Gibson's adaption of the novel and according to director Niamh Moroney, ‘People who come along expecting to see the book or the film onstage will probably leave disappointed. The play is its own beast. It’s got plenty of familiar characters and scenes but it’s designed specifically for theatre. It’s very in your face.’ Ross Costigan's starring role as junkie anti hero Renton was described as brilliant.

HG Wells’ "The War Of The Worlds," was aired in association with KCLR 96FM in October 2008. The airing of the show, coincided with the 70th anniversary of the original broadcast on CBS on Thursday October 30th 1938. The new version was written and performed by Devious and was entirely localised within the Kilkenny / Carlow region of South East Ireland.

Spud tells his story in Trainspotting

John Morton, one of the founder members of Devious Theatre, answered some questions for Scruff Daddy.

How did ye all get into acting?

All of us involved would have started up in Dreamstuff Youth Theatre. It was set up in 2000 by Mike Kelly of Young Irish Film Makers. So as teenagers it was great to not only have a place to hang out but also get a good grounding in theatre work. Not only were we acting but we'd be working on the costumes, the program design, building the stage, making the props, everything. So it was great hands on practical experience. We all worked with Dreamstuff until 2006 so it made sense to break away at that stage and set up our own group.

How have the plays been received in Kilkenny?

Generally pretty well. I think the good reception we've received has been down to two things. Firstly, our objective was to produce new theatre for younger audiences and the fact that the plays have been so different has made more people receptive to the work we're doing. And secondly, the fact that we started up at a time when the theatre scene in Kilkenny had hit a major lull meant that our work was automatically something refreshing and it surprised us because immediately there was an audience who wanted to be served with fresh, alternative theatre.

Do you find that the plays you have put on have attracted a younger audience and people who would not normally be theatre goers to the shows?

That was one of our main objectives from the get go. As a bunch of twenty somethings who were into theatre, we kind of took for granted that it was something that appealed to our age group. When in fact, it just isn't. So instead of pubs, gigs or the cinema we wanted to bring a younger audience into the theatre that would not normally attend.

A lot of the reviews have commented on the younger audiences coming into the theatre that normally don't, which is great to see. One thing that struck us when we were doing Trainspotting was the amount of audience members coming into the theatre with a few cans and bottles of beer. For us it was a validation of our work that younger people would regard a play as something you can kick back at and have a couple of beers when watching it. So whether we've been in the Watergate Theatre, Cleere's Theatre or The Barn, there's always been a healthy trail of empties left behind.

We're intent on producing theatre that appeals to a younger age group and it's getting a new audience into the theatre and opening up for them the possibilities of what theatre can be as an entertainment outlet. So on those terms, I think we've refreshed the theatre scene in Kilkenny for people. Ourselves included. We're under no illusions though. We're not going to fill a venue like a musical or a John B. Keane piece will but if we're getting in an audience that wouldn't normally bother coming in, then we're happy out.

Coming from Kilkenny do you think the city has shaped and influenced the way ye write, in a way that is different from other cities?

Absolutely. Smitten was the first play we did that was specifically set in Kilkenny and I think the main reason I wrote it was as a reaction to studying in Dublin and initially having Dublin plays stuffed down my throat. I was reading the stuff going 'That's not my experience, I can't really relate to that'. That's why it was such a revelation for me to read stuff by the likes of Martin McDonagh, Marina Carr and especially Billy Roche, where you've got a bunch of excellent playwrights telling stories based in their locales and showing how the place effects the people.

So it was obvious for us to do something that could be based in Kilkenny and whilst not necessarily being about Kilkenny, it depicted a bunch of characters that are moulded by their environment. Everybody in Kilkenny takes great pride in the cultural scene that's here and can be quite outspoken about how great it is, and I think we feed into that.

Because of the culture and history here people tend to be quite romantic about the place and in writing Smitten I was very aware of that. But it had to ring true as well. So that's where all the rain came from. And to be honest, the core of the characters troubles stems from being stuck in a rut or feeling that your options are at a dead end and I think that's honest of being a twenty something in Kilkenny at the moment. If you only write about all the good things, you're probably doing the place a disservice and it's just not going to ring true for the audience either.

Is there a philosophy behind the selection of shows to put on? Was there a conscious decision to put on shows that are non mainstream like "Trainspotting" and "Cannibal"?

Yeah, pretty much. There's a couple of things to take into account. The main thing is that if we're doing a play in a large theatre like the Watergate we'd like to have something that will pull a crowd so obviously "Trainspotting" was something we knew would have name value. "Cannibal" had the bonus of being an Irish premiere and Trey Parker would have a certain amount of name value too. But when it comes to the smaller venues we can afford to take a risk with material that wouldn't have a lot of name value.

We're also looking for plays that have rarely been seen. So we are consciously looking at what's been done already and what we can do that's going to be different. There's no point in replicating a production that a whole host of other theatre companies have already done successfully.

Annette O' Shéa and Kevin Mooney in Smitten
Ross Costigan as Renton in Trainspotting

It was the first ever staging of the musical "Cannibal" on Irish soil. How did this come about?

A lot of our plays will often come about because one of us will be seriously passionate about it and that was the case with "Cannibal." Ken McGuire had been mad to do it for years and he'd first made contact about the rights back in 2001. There had never been an Irish production and Ken just saw the opportunity to take this schlocky musical film and make a really quality stage production of it. There had been some really shoddy looking college productions of it done in the US and we saw in the material the potential to do a stage production that could transcend the low budget of the material.

Ken had optioned the Irish rights before we formed so it was a matter of getting a company to house the production. As soon as Devious Theatre was up and running it became the first major production we decided to launch. We figured a musical with a bunch of men singing and eating each other was enough of a deviation from what was out there already.

The success of "Trainspotting" has gained national critical acclaim, how has this impacted on the company, now that ye are known to a wide audience?

It's put a lot of pressure on us to maintain that standard certainly. But in terms of follow up material, "Smitten" and "The War of the Worlds" made it clear that we weren't about doing the same type of thing. "Trainspotting" is very much a piece of 'in yer face' theatre and some reviews started to brand us an 'in yer face' group, focusing mostly on shock material but that isn't the case. It was more interesting for us to move onto a local romantic comedy and a sci fi radio broadcast than do another piece of shock theatre.

Once we fixed on "Trainspotting," thematically the interesting thing for us was to look at being in your 20's and the choices you have to make which we again explored in "Smitten." It wasn't a case of us sitting around and going 'I can't wait until people freak out when Renton fucks the pregnant widow against the coffin' but undoubtedly that material is going to get a reaction, so if the audience are reacting then that's a good thing. But shock value isn't our stock in trade and while we're not going to rally against it in future, we're not necessarily going to embrace that material for the sake of it. But "Trainspotting" proved to people that we can tackle different styles of theatre and that we can approach familiar material in a new way.

Is there an emphasis on writing new material?

Definitely. Our regular acting troupe go from teens into thirties and that's also where our audience is at so ideally we look for material that can serve that age group and be played by that age group. We're always looking for new writers and new plays but as we haven't been around for that long, there haven't been many writers who have considered us when they send out material.

We haven't come across a lot of work from young Irish writers who are writing for an alternative audience but hopefully that material will come our way. We're not yet in a financial position to start commissioning work but it's something we definitely aim to do as I think the reputation of a theatre company is made by the quality of the new work they produce.

You seem to be utilisng the internet to good extent with Bebo and Myspace pages as well as the podcasts of "The War Of The Worlds" available to download on your website. How important is the internet in the promotion of the company?

It's been invaluable to us in terms of maintaining a younger audience. There's a whole life to a production so it's been nice to show rehearsal photos, videos, experimentation with cast and crew blogs. As well as trying to implement marketing campaigns online. Within two days of forming we had a Myspace page, a Bebo page and a website so straight away we wanted to place ourselves at the forefront of theatre companies embracing the internet. And not just for promotion but also for archiving.

When we did our first play, Ken Bourke, a local playwright, advised us to archive absolutely everything and that's what we've done with our website. The whole life of the company and the development is there to see. Since 2006 there's been a load of theatre companies who have embraced the internet and social networking sites and it's just a fantastic way to keep up to speed with companies and their productions. It also helps in bringing younger audiences to the theatre and it's with these audiences that the future of theatre in Ireland lies.

Dredging through shite

The group seems to be a real collective of creative Kilkenny people. They seem to be active in lots of different creative fields, like graphic design, music, web design and the like. Has this helped the company and has it created a collaborative environment where people are mixing with different creative mediums?

We wouldn't have been able to work in the manner we have without the wide spread of creative fields that everybody can work in. In terms of the staff behind Devious Theatre, everybody's own individual skills have been utilised to the benefit of the company and it's really made everything so much easier. The whole process from rehearsal to set design to promotion to booking has all been done in house, all Kilkenny practitioners and every base has been covered because the heads are there to do this. We don't need to go outside.

Everybody is so multi-disciplined that an overlap does come into play but it really means that on every production, everyone is spinning a couple of plates each and none of the plates get dropped. Being able to marry all these creative mediums has created a collaborative environment that everyone can thrive in and it means the work gets served in the best way possible.

Nightclubbing in Trainspotting

Kilkenny seems to be a great creative hub, with a theatre company an animation studio and numerous music and art festivals. Why do you think this is?

I think it's down to the lack of pressure in one way. Whilst it would be great for Kilkenny to have a college, the lack of one has resulted in a lack of a 'scene' between September and May so all the work that is going on seems slightly below surface and people have a quieter environment to work in. It's still a city and has a lot of the trappings of a city but not enough to be a distraction because we don't have a college scene that goes with it.

There's enough productivity and culture here to fuel anyone with a creative mindset but there's not enough going on to be consistently distracted. So I guess it's resulted in a very relaxed creative environment. It's only during the summer do you see the explosion in the arts but outside of that, it's nice and quiet so you can see why a lot of people are attracted to Kilkenny. It's a lovely, stimulating place to work and there's not a lot of distractions.

Are there plans to take the shows on the road?

Yeah, we'd love to branch out and bring the shows around the South East and explore the Dublin Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe but right now we're not in a financial position to do so. We just have to take our baby steps here and see how it goes. Hopefully the funding will come up for touring in the future because we're dying to get on the road and perform for new audiences.

What are the plans for 2009?

Lots of reading! We're trying to line up a slate of projects to work on over the next couple of years so we want to get those balls rolling and try and secure as much funding as we possibly can to maintain that. We've got a large production lined up for July 2009 but as of yet we haven't fixed on what exactly it's going to be. There's a couple of options so we're going to weigh them up and see which one is the best for us.

There's also plans in place for a Shakespeare theatre festival to take place in Rothe House in June so if there's a new theatre festival in Kilkenny it's something we definitely want to be involved with. Especially when it involves putting Shakespeare back into a down and dirty environment. Other than that, we're just going to keep tipping away but definitely take it down a gear from 2008. We were constantly in production from May to November in 2008 and great as it was, the pressure was immense so we're definitely factoring in some time in August to sit down and watch a few plays and drink a few pints.

Check it: www.devioustheatre.com