Echoes from a Room
Summer Production 2026
6th - 11th July
An Nuadha Players are delighted to announce that our Summer Production for 2026 is Echoes from a Room written by Terry Nealon, directed by Síomha Glynn.
10 years on since Echoes from a Room was first performed by An Nuadha Players, we are thrilled to bring it back to the stage to mark its anniversary.
This play is based on Terry's experience of working as a Junior Manager in a gas lighter company in Dublin City Centre during the mid sixties. It is set during the Christmas/New Years period and tells the story of the group of women who worked under Terry in this factory. The women, from inner city Dublin, each had their own story to tell. The characters in this story are based on real people or an amalgamation of different women that Terry came across during his time working there. From within the four walls of the factory room comes the echoes of their conversations, their laughter, their arguments, their stories.
Auditions will take place on 3rd & 4th March 2026 in Maynooth Community College at 7:30pm.
An additional audition date has been added on 10th March - same time and venue.
People who auditioned previously are more than welcome to audition again.
Please read through the character information below.
If you're interested in auditioning, or being involved in the show off-stage, please complete the form at the link below and ensure you click "Submit". You will receive a copy of your response by email once you've registered.
Rehearsals will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please ensure you can commit to this and the show dates prior to registering your interest to audition.
If you would like to audition and can't make the above dates, please let us know by email at annuadhaplayers@gmail.com with as much notice as possible.
Keep an eye here on our website, on our social media pages (links below) or sign up to our email and WhatsApp mailing lists for all ticket information.
Characters
NOTE: Your actual age doesn't necessarily need to be the age of the character so please don't let the ages mentioned below put you off auditioning for a particular character.
Bernie O'Connor: A woman mid 30s living with her parents. Her sister has a 12 year old called Jennie. Bernie is the mother of Jennie as a result of a relationship with Jimmy from the factory.
Maura Munch: 40s was jilted at the altar and this has defined who she is. She believes she has special talents as a result of her father's cousin Alfred Munch (The Scream). Lives with her mam and Dad. Continually wiping her nose with tissue and looks into it. Nose red.
Elisabeth Belton: 27. Her sex life is pure fantasy. Lives with uncle and aunt and 3 cousins. Mother died giving birth, her father left shortly after and never returned.
Joan Smith: 17. Wants to go to Hollywood now. She can dance and sing. Determined not to get trapped and wants to move out. She is young and innocent. Lives with her mam and dad. An only child.
Mary Matthews: 24 engaged to a man called Joe. He believes a woman's place is in the home. She listens to everything he says but Christmas 1965 changes everything for her.
Floss Byrne: 65 - as old as the century. Single woman who has an interesting back story. Very at ease with herself, knows exactly who she is. A good humoured woman with a hidden sadness to her life which we may not find out about. She witnessed most of the main events from 1916 and onwards. Her view of events is at odds with what we are led to believe. Has a nervous twitch of the face.
Phyllis Malone: Late 30s she is straight forward. Married at 18 to Arthur who is a serious drinker and works now and then on the docks. Money is a constant struggle and she needs this job. She lives for her twins.
Connie McNamara: Late 40s. Life has always been hard. She became a bully at school for attention and remained a bully into her adult life. She has a very narrow view. She is now 15 years with her boyfriend with no development. Some years ago she found Jesus and uses him like a weapon to put people down. She might at any time drop to her knees and say the rosary. The girls ignore her but she will still have her say while she is praying.
Jimmy Buckley: 35. Collects and distributes the work. He went with Bernie for a while. He did a flit to Blackpool after hearing Bernie was pregnant but claimed he went to make a career for himself in comedy. His friends always said he was funny, mainly his mother. After failing in Blackpool he returned to Ireland and his old job. Bernie told him he had a 4 year old daughter but he could not hack it. When he gets excited he scratches his arse.
Hans Jurgen: Production Manager. 42 - Sent to Ireland from the main factory in Hamburg. The franchise for the Kaiser Lighter Company was taken out in Ireland by the Hoffman Brothers. Hans was once a member of the Hitler Youth. He was arrested in Berlin the week Hitler died and served a short time as a prisoner of war in Russia. The factory had a room for holding bottles of butane gas. This was called the gas chamber by all.
Tony Nolan: 19. In charge of the room as a Junior Manager. He was being groomed to take over from Hans as Works Manager in a hundred years' time. Appalled at the idea but as he was stuck in a relationship since he was 15, this could be his future. Thought he might go foreign and do some charity work. Has to make changes quickly but is not sure how to do it. He bites his nails.
Theresa Carty: late 20s. Separated mother of 2. Her family were stall dealers in the inner city. Married at 18 to a local thug. She was warned by all who knew him but at 17 she liked the danger. Her life is a car crash with horrific results.
Terry Nealon
Scriptwriter
Terry Nealon was born in Drimnagh, Dublin in 1946. He was involved in music and drama for most of his life. His love of drama was kindled by Finbarr Howard in The Bosco Boys Club in Drimnagh and he was a member of a variety of drama groups over the years, including membership of An Nuadha Players in Maynooth and Insight Theatre in Celbridge. Terry also played with several music groups including 'Renaissance - Music for sophisticates' (Ireland's most talented undiscovered boy band - Terry's own description!) and The Christy Driscoll Trio. He regularly played in the Embankment in Tallaght in its heyday.
'Echoes from a Room' was Terry's first full length play and reflects his experience as a supervisor in a city centre workplace in the mid-sixties - the scars of which he still bore at the time he wrote this play by his own account! The play was a labour of love and is a testament to a group of women who were very much the product of their time and place but who found their own way of overcoming the odds.