Cast & Creatives

Adapted by Diarmuid de Faoite and Justin McCarthy
First broadcast as an RTE Drama on One in December 2015, the stage adaptation is set in a 1950s radio studio complete with narrator, an ensemble of actors, a band, backing singers and live sound effects.

Theatre adaptation originally directed by Rod Godall

Credits 2021 Tour 

Creatives - 2021 tour 

Director: Hilary Kavanagh      
Musical Director: Justin McCarthy
Co-Producer: Maria Moynihan Lee/Milestone Inventive
Costume Designer: Mags Linnane
Lighting Designer:Jim Faulkner
Sound Designer: Joe Bean


Stage/Company Manager: Midie Corcoran
Props & Set Dressing: Alison Kilbane & Midie Corcoran
Production Manager: Fiona Lawless
Production Coordinator: Ciara Moloughney & Susan McGrady 
Administration & Box Office: Mary Dooley


Kate O'Toole - Narrator

Kate trained at the Yale Schoo of Drama and made her first stage appearance in in Jim Sheridan’s production of The Hostage at the Irish Arts Centre, New York. Other theatre credits incl. Double Cross with Field Day Theatre Co., John Bull’s Other Island (Gaiety, Dublin), The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Barbaric Comedies and Drama at Inish (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) The Blue Macushla, The Donohue Sisters and A Little Like Drowning (Druid Theatre Co,) Summer & Smoke (Apollo Theatre, London), Don Juan (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Reflected Glory (Vaudeville Theatre, London). She was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre award for Dead Funny (Rough Magic) and won Best Actress at the UK Regional Theatre Awards for Three Tall Women (Lyric, Belfast). Film & TV credits include: The Dead, Dancing at Lughnasa, Man on the Train, Eden, Laughter in the Dark, Malice Aforethought, The Tudors, Titanic, Blood and Steel, No Tears, Foreign Exchange and Denis Potter’s Karaoke.

Áine Ní Dhroigneáin - Sara Tansey

Áine is an experienced performer in both English and Irish and studied drama with NUIG.

A decorated sean-nós singer, she served a term as Sean-Nós Singer in Residence in NUIG and has performed extensively at home and abroad, including at events in Tokyo, Boston, Berlin and Talinn. She is an experienced voice-over artist and is an active member of Aisteoirí an Spidéil with whom she has performed as well as with other companies, including An Taibhdhearc. She has featured on screen in Ros na Rún, Gafa, Na Cloigne and Cré na Cille.

Daniel Guinnane - Foley Artist

Daniel Guinnane is an actor and musician. Acting credits include: Moby Dan, Dog (Barrabas); The Lost Days of Ollie Deasy (Macnas); Waiting for Godot, Dr. Faustus, Blood Wedding, Measure for Measure, The Duchess of Malfi (Theatrecorp); The Honey Spike (Mephisto); The Merchant of Venice (Thereisbear!); and Remanants, The Ramblers (Turas Theatre). He has also performed with Teatro Punto, The Gombeens, Lazerballet. He plays trumpet with Big Jelly, an 8-piece Ska Band. He has also worked on, My Poet Dark and Slender (2016) and Also for Raoring (2020) with Roisin Stack. In 2019 he performed at Edinburgh Fringe with The Mackerel Eaters.

Eilish Mc Carthy - Pegeen Mike

Originally from Tipperary, Eilish McCarthy is a Galway based performer with a degree in Theatre & Performance from NUI Galway. Eilish is currently performing, devising and facilitating with Fregoli Theatre Company, as part of their Roscommon Arts Centre residency entitled Finding Home (2020, 2021). Credits include Inside You Stay, Cross Street, Fregoli Heart Project, You Could Be Us, Tape, Pleasure Ground and Mary Mary Mary with Fregoli Theatre Company. She has also worked with Decadent Theatre Company (The Pillowman, The Dead School, Vernon God Little), Druid Debuts (Galway International Arts Festival 2016), and RTE Radio 1 (A Matter of Modesty, 2016). After many years performing with Galway Youth Theatre, Eilish now designs and teaches courses with GYT and is passionate about youth and community arts development.

Eoin O'Dubhghaill - Christy Mahon

Eoin has worked on various projects on stage and screen for over ten years, including the feature films Arracht and Out Of Innocence, and the tv shows Grace Harte and Harry Wild. He has performed on stage in The Abbey Theatre with the acclaimed show Baoite by Darach Mac Con Iomaire and with the director Maoilíosa Stafford on the show Amhrán An Bhonnáin Bhuí in An Taibhdhearc in Galway. He his at his most comfortable working on musicals. He has performed as Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors (2012) as Mark Cohen in RENT (2013) and recently on a new musical 'Dragon' which he performed as part of the Body and Soul Music and Arts festival in the summer of 2019. Eoin performed as Christy Mahon in last year's version of The Playboy Musical in the Galway Summer Garden and is delighted to have the opportunity to do so again this year.

Fia Rua - Old Mahon/Jimmy Farrell

Fia Rua (Eoghan Burke) began his performing career as a singer/songwriter and ballad singer releasing four acclaimed albums, including this year’s ‘Behind The Grey’, and touring extensively in Ireland and Europe. He stepped into the acting world in 2010 and has since been performing in both disciplines. He has worked with Wilde Shamrock Touring Theatre, Money For The Sun Productions, Siamsiocht Productions and many more. Recent stage credits include The Plot (New Theatre 2018) ‘Finding Joesph’ (Lipzinc-Dean Crowe Theatre 2021), a one man show set in a state orphanage in 60’s Ireland, and ‘From The Plains – The Story Of John Devoy’, another one man show, written and performed by Fia and commissioned as part of the New York St Patricks Day Festival in 2019. He also presents podcasts (Kildare Speaks), does offline and online storytelling, and is a unique voice artist.

Fred Mc Closkey - Micheal James

Fred McCloskey has been an actor and musician for over 25 years. He has been in numerous theatre, TV, and film productions over the years along with playing music and singing with numerous bands. He has been a leading cast member on TG4's Ros na Run for over 20 years. He has been involved in The Playboy of the Western World the Musical since 2012 when Justin McCarthy roped him in to sing on a few tracks that he was dreaming up in his studio. Delighted and excited to be back as Michael James.

Helen Gregg - Widow Quinn/Honor Blake

Originally from Northern Ireland, Helen Gregg trained in theatre in Ireland and France and now lives and works in Galway. She is a core ensemble member with Branar Téatar do Pháistí, regularly devising new work and touring nationally with them. She has worked extensively with street and spectacle theatre company Macnas for over 25 years, was co-founder of Galway-based theatre company Electric Bridget, and more recently of innovative street theatre company Turas Theatre Collective, and is a member of Clowns Without Borders Ireland. She is an experienced actor, writer, improvisor, singer and voice-over artist.

Muireann Ní Raghallaigh - Foley Artist

Muireann is an actor and musician working in theatre, film and television. She is based between Galway and Glasgow, regularly hopping from gig to gig, both onstage and behind the scenes in production. This is Muireann’s fourth outing with the Playboys, having joined the cast in late 2016.

Performance credits include:

The Last Burning, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Ballykilldowna, The Merchant of Venice, No Way Out, Frankenstein, The Shadow of Carmilla (ThereisBear! Theatre), An Tíoranach Drogallach, Maum (An Taibhdhearc), The Duchess of Malfi (Theatrecorp), The Dead School (Decadent Theatre), My Poet Dark and Slender (Mmm Theatre), Dorian Gray Redux (Simulacra Theatre), Na Síoga agus an Gréasaí (Branar), I, Sniper (ACS), There Is No Problem Here, Hello? Hello. (Rove St. Productions), What Haunts You (Clockmaker Arts) Nóra (POC Productions).

Film/short performances include: Sooner or Later, Watch Emily Fly, Mark at the Supermarket, Incubus, Attention Please, Balbháin, Fort Tom. 

Muireann has also worked on TG4’s Ros na Rún for a number of years, in the role of Fia.


Philip Sweeney - Shawn Keogh/Philly Cullen

Philip’s theatrical career began back in the dim recession laden 1980’s when Ireland was screaming out for eejits to take to the stage and make fools of themselves, Philip rushed to the cause. He spent his formative acting career with better men than him in the music halls of Kinvara and neighbouring villages in South Galway. In the 1990’s Philip took a giant leap forward and took acting and voice lessons with Galway Arts Centre and GYT. From there he played for many years with The Flying Pig Comedy Troupe writing and performing original Comedy Shows to Audiences all over Ireland and abroad, such as “Oliver Cromwell The Musical”, “Dial M For Marbles” and “Peig Sayers The Musical”, to name but a few. In 2003 Philip managed to secure a 2 month residency in The MGM Grand New York New York hotel and casino Las Vegas presenting a 4hour live show 6 nights a week. Over the years Philip has also been lucky enough to have worked with many great theatre companies at home and globally including several Macnas shows and spectacles. Film credits include “A Very Unlucky Leprechaun” and “Knocking on Deaths Door” and TV credits include “Fear An Phoist” comedy series for TG4 and “Remote Control” for BBC among other well forgotten or never seen programmes.


Justin Mc Carthy - Musician, The Stooks 

Producer/Musical Director/Composer/Musician

Charlie Foley  - Musician, The Stooks

A native of Galway City, Charlie was bassist in the house-band on the popular TG4 TV show ‘Síbín’. He relocated to Dublin, where he studied for his London Guildhall Diploma in Jazz Theory & Performance. Over the years Charlie has performed & toured with many artists in various musical styles, including Peter Corry, Hazel O’Connor, Michelle Shocked, Declan O’Rourke, Camille O’Sullivan, Finbar Furey, and Tommy Fleming. He has also worked with various orchestras including the Ulster Orchestra, and RTE Concert Orchestra. A regular on TV/Radio shows and events, Charlie has worked with a long list of artists including Westlife, Brian Kennedy, Amy Winehouse, Olly Murs, Shane Ward, Samantha Mumba, Boyzone, Mike Batt, Tony Hadley, Sharon Shannon, and Mike Scott & The Waterboys. He has been a band member of the international touring show Celtic Thunder since 2016.

Cormac Dunne - Musician, The Stooks

Cormac Dunne is the drummer with well-known Irish band The Stunning, who have had two No.1 albums in Ireland, Paradise in the Picturehouse (1990) and Once Around The World (1992) with the rock anthem Brewing Up A Storm being their signature song. Cormac has also toured and recorded with other artists including Ultan Conlon, Roesy and Sean Keane

Jimmy Fitz - Musician, The Stooks

Worked with bands The Little Fish, Maimin Cajun Band, Black Magic Big Band and The Screamin' Bluecats has two solo albums released and has worked with many of Ireland's leading musicians, and with RTE and RnaG . Holds a MA in Music Technology and works helping local musicians and songwriters in his own project studio Real Life


Aindrias de Staic  - Special Guest, Killarney & Coole Park

Musicial actor Aindrias de Staic has enjoyed roles on London's West End (Woody Sez) and with Dublin's Abbey theatre (Jimmy's hall) but Aindrias is also a well known Irish language Tv presenter (Tg4) & award winning story-teller.

Since completing a Masters (Hon's) at University Limerick, Aindrias has become one of a new generation of Irish story-tellers. He's chiefly interested in the combination of music & storytelling in Theatre, Film, TV, Digital media and live Storytelling performance. His work as professional musician, actor and Tv presenter in recent years has given a confident approach to reinvigorate aspects of Irish story-telling with music, character development and theatrical devices.

Aindrias is well known for his solo shows which have won awards internationally. “Around the World on 80 Quid” Best Solo Show NZ Fringe2008 

“The Year I got Younger” Malcolm Hardee Award Nominee, Edinburgh Fringe 2008 “Summer I did the Leaving” Three Weeks Editors Choice, Edinburgh Fringe 2009

2017 “The Man from Moogaga” was awarded BAI support for adaptation to national radio & received repeated broadcasts on Newstalk.

Story-teller in Residence Cuirt literature festival 2016 Musician in Residence Alpha Co-Op Sydney 2015

Tracy Bruen - Foley Artist, Coole Park

Tracy Bruen is a musician and actor from Galway. She has worked as an actor and a director with Fregoli Theatre Company for many years, performing on stages all over Ireland and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She acted in Decadent Theatre Company's production of Vernon God Little which toured nationally in 2015 and is a frequent performer with Macnas. In recent years Tracy has focused on her career as a singer-songwriter. She has played many of Ireland's main festivals, toured nationally and throughout Europe, and released an album and subsequent singles which have received regional and national radio airplay.