Tiernan relishing his stage role in Sive

Navan native comedian Tommy Tiernan is currently on stage in the Druid’s major new production of John B. Keane’s most famous play, Sive, in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. 

Tiernan plays the local matchmaker, Thomasheen Seán. It's not his first role with Druid - he played a murdered priest about 20 years ago, with director Garry Hynes recalling that he hadn't any lines, he just had to groan.

The cast includes Gráinne Good (Sive), Andrea Irvine (Mena) Barbara Brennan (Nana), Brian Doherty (Mike Glavin), Seán Doyle (Liam Scuab), Bosco Hogan (Seán Dóta), Marie Mullen (Pats Bocock) and Radie Peat (Carthalawn).
 
"I love working on the plays of John B. Keane," says director Garry Hynes. "He has this potent mix of great characters, brilliant storytelling, the magic and the spiritual, which make his plays a joy for both audiences and actors alike."
 

Nana and Mena bicker and provoke one another in the small smoky cottage in which they live with Sive and Mena’s husband, Mike. While Nana dotes on her illegitimate granddaughter, Sive, Mena has other ideas and plots to marry the young innocent Sive off to an old local farmer.
 
John B Keane began writing Sive in 1959 when he returned to live in Listowel after a period working in the UK. Settling by the fire of his pub in the wee hours, he crafted what would become one of the country’s most loved plays. Sive was an instant hit with amateur dramatic companies and was eventually given a professional production at the Abbey in 1985. It has long won a place in the country’s literary history, cited in The Irish Times’ ‘Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks’ in 2015.

Following on from their award-winning productions of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (2016, 2017) and Big Maggie (2016), Druid commences another busy year with this giant of the Irish canon. The production runs at the Gaiety Theatre until 3rd March.