Bogside Spinster brings the house down in Derry

As playwright Brian Foster watched one of his cast members strip to their knickers on the opening night of his new play at the Millennium Forum, he must have wondered if he had gone too far this time.
The cast of When the Bogside Spinster Met the Carndonagh Stud.The cast of When the Bogside Spinster Met the Carndonagh Stud.
The cast of When the Bogside Spinster Met the Carndonagh Stud.

He had. And we loved it. Every minute, every loose comment and every innuendo.

‘When the Bogside Spinster met the Carndonagh Stud’ more than earned its standing ovation when it opened on Wednesday night.

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Audience members had to be scooped off from the floor as gag after gag, Foster’s own particular brand of magical comedy, drew them deeper into the story.

This from the man who in 2013 brought us ‘From the Camp to the Creggan’, a play which at the time was described by critics as “the funniest thing ever seen on a Derry stage.” Now, I beg to differ.

Featuring a stellar cast comprising Shaunsy Coyle as lecherous Mr Cecil ‘Creepy’ Crawley, Pat Lynch as the randy Patsy Mc Daid, The ‘Legendary’ Carndonagh Stud, Rachel Melaugh as sex-bomb Majella O’Donnell. Kathy Deehan as spiteful oul ma, Cassie Coyle, and, last but not least, Eoghan McBride as sex starved spinster, Mary Coyle, The Bogside Spinster, this is the play that just keeps giving.

What other play opens and closes with one of the central characters sitting on a chamber pot?

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The action centres around Mary, the sex starved scrubber, a woman dying to lose her virginity at the tender age of 43. Enter Patsy, the stud from Carndonagh, the man who Mary is determined will pollinate her. But things don’t go according to plan. Patsy has a secret, and it ain’t pretty.

It’s a laugh a minute with standout performances from every single member of the cast.

But it was the adorable Eoghan McBride as Mary who stole my heart. This man can wear Prada and Louis Vuitton and keep it classy - well almost.

Featuring a fabulous set, complete with sacred heart picture, this is a play that everyone from Derry and Donegal needs to see.

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If you ever wanted to know what an explosive climax is, then this is the play for you.

Tell your friends, tell your work colleagues - but don’t tell your granny. This isn’t one for the faint-hearted. But it’s one you wont forget.

The play continues on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. Tickets at www.millenniumforum.co.uk or 71264455

Contains adult humour.

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