UK Theatre Network

MOVE OVER ABBEY THEATRE. PACINO’S SUPPER CLUB HAS ARRIVED!!

What’s a supper club and where is Pacino’s I here you ask!? A supper club is the latest brain child of Paul Ryan where we can all go to dine & wine while watching theatre. Doesn’t that sound brilliant? Well it is! Pacino’s is a stunning little Italian restaurant on Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 (To the right of Molly Malone’s’ wheel barrow). The staff are friendly, the food is ridiculously cheap and the wine is delicious. Pacino’s proprietor is a splendid young man, Mick Martin and the supper club is on every Thursday at 10pm. There is an admission charge of €10 on the door which goes straight into the actor’s pockets. http://www.pacinos.ie/

On arriving into the venue I was ushered by a gentleman to the bar where I chose a glass of house red merlot. Please try it because it was sensational. As the place crowded up and everyone was greeted and seated we had a look at the menu. For a measly €20 you get a selection of any two Tapas or a large delicious Italian pizza with 2 glasses of wine. No wonder they advertise the night as “unscene”! The tapas where delicious and I tried a slice or two of some handsome devils Pizza and it was truly gorgeous.

A young lady came on the microphone and introduced the fire exists and explained that we would see five, 10 minute plays with 10 minute intervals in between for us to chit chat and the likes. The set up of the restaurant was perfect for this night. There are lots of high seated stools with tables and bar seating which all face a stage which I’m sure they use as an area for dinning during the day. The restaurant it quaint with stone brick interior, soft dim lighting and an exquisite Italian feel.

As the first act came on we are introduced to a hilarious scene of two ladies who are dinning and confessing their thoughts which have the audience in barrels of laughter, particularly at all the characters performed so hilariously by Actor Rebecca McGurrell who you can’t help but love and laugh out load or hysterically to yourself. As the 5 acts are performed they get better and better particularly in the 4th act where Johnny Williamson will stun you with his character of an actors agent about to sign an actor. The level of acting demonstrated by Johnny Williamson is second to none as he performs very different characters throughout the night with his excellent American accents and ground breaking performances. Every week we can expect to see different acts so it’s worth getting down to see this guy before he’s gone or snapped up by Hollywood.

The true star of the night however was the concept itself. Everyone seemed to like the new buzz of theatre while dinning and everyone is right. It is the first time something like this has been introduced on the Dublin scene and it’s about time. There is a buzz amongst the art and actor types of Dublin about this new concept and I predict a whole new array of these supper clubs popping up everywhere, where the talented actors, writers and director of Dublin strut their stuff. I personally am looking forward to being entertained while dining, particularly with menus as cheap as Pacino’s.

When your finished eating and watching the theatre you can go down stairs where they provide live music or a dj until some made hour!

Paul Ryan mentioned to us last night that there is a group on Facebook called “Entertaining Dublin” where he urges all entertainment industry professionals to get involved so they can get up and perform to the wonderful audience of Pacino’s on a Thursday night. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=145973135417036&ref=ts 

Date: Every Thursday Night

Time: 10pm

Location: 18 Suffolk Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Admission: €10

Booking Line: 01 677 5651

Website: http://www.pacinos.ie/

Marti Stewart

UK Theatre Network

Interview

Actor Johnny Williamson was kind enough to do a short and sweet interview with UK Theatre Network, sponsored by the UK Theatre Network, here’s how it went:

UK Theatre Network: Johnny, captivating performance there, I see tonight the production company performing are Company D. How did the company come about and how did you get involved:

Johnny: Well a guy called Dave is the director along with Rebecca there who spoke on the microphone earlier. They started up the production company who is performing tonight and I met Dave along the way in acting classes and he asked me to be a part of it.

UK Theatre Network: How did you chose the pieces to perform tonight, did someone write them, and if so who?

Johnny: well actually we just took little scenes out of plays that are already written by excellent playwrights and performed them.

UK Theatre Network: How long where you in rehearsals for?

Johnny: about 3 weeks

UK Theatre Network: Which is your favorite character to perform amongst the 4 scenes you play?

Johnny: Oh definitely the actors agent. He’s a great one to play and just takes over.

UK Theatre Network: Yes, he seems ready to go, you could make a movie on him alone!

Johnny Williamson is originally from Tipperary, he travelled around the states studying acting and returned to Dublin in 2008. He is currently represented by Julian Benson.