West End Wonders Tour
The Irish are coming – again!
In the countdown to the Oscars, there are usually a series of lazy articles talking about how ‘the Irish are coming’. However, you won’t be surprised to hear that the talented Irish arrived a long time ago. Long before Tinseltown was ever dreamt of London had the greatest Oscar of them all, and he was Irish.
“Gentleman’ Knowles, Helen Rous, Dorothea Jordan or Charles Macklin may not be household names, but they were the titans of their day. Along with generations of many more in all spheres of the theatre, they came to the West End of London and made an impact.
Theatrical triumphs
David Garrick often gets the credit for many of the innovations of the modern theatre, but in truth his mentor, Donegal’s own Charles Macklin, was responsible. Try and imagine a theatreland without Shaw, Wilde or Beckett? We plan to highlight their stories, where they triumphed and indeed, one or two places where they crashed and burned along the way.
We will also be pointing out other features of note that were part of West End lore such as the long gone Romano’s, or the everpresent Rules. We’ll tell you all about the great Irish successes over the years from Friel to Mescal, Gough to Donnelly, Boyle to Buckley. We’ll be talking the hellraisers and bad boys from Macklin to Wilde, Harris to O’Toole.
Retracing an ancient path
If you’re over in London for a ‘show’, then this tour is a must for you as we saunder around this sacred soil where so many people have been enthralled and entertained over the years. We’ll take you to out of the way places from a pub once known as the Bucket of Blood to the actors’ pantheon that is hiding in broad daylight. The ghosts, the architecture, the bon mots – we’ll cover it all and finish with a liquid salute to these marvellous brave folk who do the scariest, but surely most rewarding of jobs night after night.
