New York Actor Makes Sligo Debut in Drama Circle’s Stunning ‘Streetcar’

A New York actor will be making his Sligo stage debut next week – and it’s all thanks to a feature in The Sligo Champion Arts Page. Tim Dillard was working in a production of “Italian Wedding” in Dun Laoghaire when, out of the blue, his Slig0-based friend, Róisín Monaghan, called to tell him the part he had always wanted to play was soon to be up for grabs in Sligo. Róisín had read an appeal in The Sligo Champion for a suitable person to play the demanding role of Stanley Kowalski in their forthcoming production of the Tennessee Williams’ classic “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and she knew that Tim would be interested.

“I studied the play at college, and it’s a role I’ve always wanted to play, but for various reasons the circumstances were never quite right. On this occasion, everything fitted perfectly. I was delighted to get the call from Sligo, and when I came here and met the Drama Circle people, I had no doubt but that this would be a great production and that I could work well with the team. That’s exactly how it’s turned out”, Tim reports. An experienced actor on both stage and film, Tim studied at the American Music and Dramatic Academy in New York before moving on to play in off-Broadway productions and in touring shows. He later moved to Austin, Texas, becoming involved in the film industry there, and starring in a number of films which were extensively shown at top film festivals throughout the U.S. Moving to Dublin a year and a half ago, Tim has been constantly working in stage productions in the capital as well as concentrating on his writing skills.

Having worked in professional theatre almost all of his career, Tim admits that he was very pleasantly surprised by the high standard he has witnessed with the Drama Circle production, under the direction of Joan Fitzpatrick. He says, “Everybody has been very accommodating and friendly, and they’re very easy to work with. The commitment is unbelievable. We’ve been working four or five nights a week since January. The great advantage of amateur theatre is that there are more people involved in the creative process, everybody is allowed their voice and their input. That seldom happens in professional productions. The other difference, of course, is that in professional acting it can sometimes be just about the pay-cheque. People don’t always actually like the work they’re doing, whereas in amateur theatre, there’s a genuine love and passion for what they’re doing, and that rubs off. It’s very special”

So taken has he been by his Sligo experience that Tim is hoping the opportunity will arise quite soon to work here again. “When I finish Streetcar, I begin shooting a new film at locations all over the country. There’s a possibility that Sligo will be one of the locations, and I’ll certainly be recommending it. I’ll take any excuse to get back here, I love it so much”, he says. Whatever about Tim’s love of the place and the play, there is certainly a passion in the Drama Circle for ‘Streetcar’, which has become an integral part of the company’s illustrious history. in 1979, under the direction of Liam Mc Kinney, the Drama Circle’s production of ‘Streetcar’ won the Esso Trophy at the finals of the All-Ireland Drama Festival, and among the successful cast was the director of the current production, Joan Fitzpatrick.

Set in New Orleans, the play deals with the relationship between sisters Blanche and Stella DuBois and Stella’s husband, Stanley. Desire is central to the play, with all the emotional turmoil and tension it brings to the lives of the three main characters. Tim is joined by an experienced local cast, with Ann Marie Byrne playing Blanche; Máire Hynes playing Stella and Gerry Ryan playing Mitch. Other featured cast members include Eileen Higgins, Orla Mc Sharry, Ultan Burke, Barry Deignan, Jack Rogers, Frances Ryan, Deborah Baker and Fintan Whelan.

from The Sligo Champion, March 10th, 2004, by Jim Gray