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The Lost WarriorClick on the images to view larger versions. Photographs by George Coupe
Drawing on ancient myths and legends, The Lost Warrior is an exciting piece of fantasy theatre to thrill children and adults alike. Oisin (“Usheen”) is a young Celtic warrior who guarded the shores of Lough Leane a hundred lifetimes ago. Aideen is a modern-day Irish teenager. When fate draws them together, strange things start to happen. Stones talk. Horses gallop across the water. And an army of elves and goblins takes to the air. Can all this be real or is Aideen really “away with the fairies”? By the same creative team that brought us those other stories of faraway lands The Snow Queen, The Emperor and the Nightingale and The Jungle Book, The Lost Warrior will include wonderful costumes, amazing spectacle and a fantastic brand new story! Magic, mythology and romance combine in the Dukes' spell-binding Christmas production, The Lost Warrior...The exceptionally talented cast sing and play enchanting music to produce an amazingly captivating experience for the family audience. The Lost Warrior continues the [Dukes'] recent trend of genuine, high-quality AND thoroughly enjoyable festive season family fare. VISITOR A winning combination of faerie magic, Celtic legend and a fantastical story has given the Dukes and absolute gem for Christmas. Wonderful! The production engendered a heart-warming glow which got warmer as the evening progressed. VIRTUAL LANCASTER Neil Duffield has fused a wondrous table of Celtic myths with a story of everyday growing up in modern-era Ireland. The audience is transported into a world of myth and magic via stunning scenery, haunting music and a fierce battle scene that would satisfy even the most ardent Lord of the Rings fan. WESTMORLAND GAZETTE As the young heroine, Pam Jolley is a delight: inquisitive, ethereal yet thoroughly down to earth. Christopher Dickins's Oisin cuts a dash, while Ruth Dawes is very good value as a flinty Welsh pebble. Timeless, magical and haunting. This is a highly versatile cast who can act, sing, play pipes, fiddle, flute and bodhran, and dance with considerable accomplishment. Eileen Murphy's direction is impeccable in bringing such a fresh, sparkling and mystical piece of folklore to the Dukes for both adults and children alike. - MORNING STAR Another winner. Pam Jolley is delightful as Aideen and Christopher Dickins is dashing as the lost warrior of the title. Kieran Cunningham and Ruth Dawes win laughs as the Druid Angus and stone sprite Bron with Jacquelyn Hynes never too scary as the The Morrigan and Niamh. Patrick Bridgman completes the excellent hard-working cast as the enigmatic Fergal in this first rate production. - BLACKPOOL GAZETTE Meet the Cast PATRICK BRIDGMAN plays Fergal. This is Patrick’s fifth visit to the Dukes having previously appeared in The Hound of the Baskervilles and Fandango! in the park, Moll Flanders and as the Wolf in The Firebird. Theatre work during 2004 has taken him from Scotland to Greece. Over the summer he was in Nottingham Playhouse’s production of The Railway Children, and in October he toured the northwest in the premiere of Crystal Stewart’s Garden of the Heart with new company, Boojum. Earlier in the year he attended to the spiritual needs of Coronation Street. as Rev. Colin Green and could recently be heard in the BBC Radio 4 play War and Fish. He lives across the bay in the retirement paradise of Grange-over-Sands.
CommentsComment by Nick Morgan, Our ladiesThis is the first play I have watched at The dukes, and this will not be the last!! The breath-taking set was amazing along with the brillant acting, I can happily recommend this play to anyone, child, adult or OAP!! This is a must see this xmas! Comment by Laura, Liverpool
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KIERAN CUNNINGHAM plays Angus. Kieran was born and brought up in his Native Ireland and has worked extensively both here and in the North and South of Ireland. His most recent theatre credits include, Kes at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and a highly successful UK Tour of The Quare Fellow playing “Donnelly”, for the Oxford Stage Company and directed by the actor/director Kathy Burke. Other theatre credits include Forced Upon Us and Working Class Heroes both for the Irish Based Dubblejoint Theatre Company, Midnight Hour at the Young Vic, London and Grace in America at the Traverse, Edinburgh. Another notable performance was appearing as “Gould” in Speed the Plow at the Contact Theatre, Manchester where Kieran was nominated for Best Actor in the M.E.N. Awards. His television credits include playing “George” in the Manchester comedy/drama Shameless for Channel 4, Shoot to Kill for Yorkshire Television and Moveable Feasts for the BBC. His recently appeared as “Frank Schumann” in the feature film Digital Jesus and his career has also included numerous BBC Radio plays and voice-overs for various productions ranging from Father Ted to Murphy’s Irish Stout!
RUTH DAWES plays Bron. Ruth began her performing life as a trapeze artist with the Nofit State Circus in Cardiff. She went on to study mime and movement at the Desmond Jones School and acting at the Drama Studio London. Her theatre work is broad and various including several tours with Midsommer's Actors, performing Shakespeare and other works in unusual and romantic outdoor settings; theatres, schools, village halls, cliff-tops and in castle ruins around the country. Other theatre work includes; When Icicles Hang by the Wall for New Perspectives, King of Spin at Leicester Haymarket, Eye of the Storm at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Arabian Nights for Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company and The Wonderland Adventures of Alice at Manchester Library Theatre. For TV Ruth appeared as Homo Habilis and Neanderthal in the BBC’s Walking with Cavemen.
CHRISTOPHER DICKINS plays Oisin. A law graduate from Downing College, Cambridge, Chris trained as an actor at Guildford School of Acting, and has appeared in many rep theatres up and down the country, including Salisbury, Exeter, Southampton, York, Watford, and Chester. He is a regular performer in John Doyle’s actor-musician ensemble at the Watermill, Newbury, where he most recently performed in the musical A Star Danced. West End credits include Gondoliers at the Apollo and Salad Days at the Vaudeville, and as a stage-fighter he participated in regular fight demonstrations at Shakespeare’s Globe. Last Christmas he played Aramis in Basingstoke’s The Three Musketeers, for which he also composed the songs. He has toured with the Royal National Theatre in Threepenny Opera, and last year played Sonny Hale in the Jessie Matthews tribute show Over My Shoulder at the Mill at Sonning. As a composer, Chris created the music for the Chipping Norton panto Beauty and the Beast. Chris has contributed to the Sunday Telegraph Travel Section, and is a part time lecturer in Musical Theatre at the Academy of Creative Training in his hometown of Brighton. This is his first time at the Dukes.
JACQUELYN HYNES plays The Morrigan. Jacquelyn trained at Middlesex Poly, joining the National Student Theatre Company to play Mannekin in the British Premiere of Lorca’s When Five Years Pass which won a Fringe First. Jacquelyn has worked internationally with over thirty theatre companies. Roles include: Krisi in Love with Cologne based company Confederacy of Fools; Ophelia in Hamlet with Kaos Theatre; Eglantine in Sleeping Beauty with Orchard Theatre; Sly the fox in Neil Duffield’s Ugly Duckling, Ocarina in The Terrible Grump at Newcastle Playhouse and Beatrix Potter at the Royal Opera House and Singapore Arts Festival, Dona Mercedes in Fandango! at the Dukes and Barbarella in Lounge Act at The Royal Court Studio and White Bear Theatre. She joined experimental group Collective Title whilst at college and has played flute with Howard Haigh, Solar Quest, Angellus, The Northern Celts and Irish punk band, Neck performing this year at the Ardoyne Fleadh, Handel House and The Levellers Festival.
PAM JOLLEY plays Aideen. Pam trained at Rose Bruford College. Her theatre credits include; Jane Eyre (Oddsocks Productions, UK tour), Emily’s Wish, Sticks and Stones (Reveal Theatre Company) and she leads workshops at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
