We Mourn the Sudden Passing of Michael

It was with great sadness and a deep sense of shock that we learned last Thursday of the sudden passing of Michael Leyden, our colleague, Committee member, actor and director. Michael was an active member of our Committee and organisation and was thoroughly involved in all of our activities, including our recent drama workshops on Culture Night in September.

Michael performed in many Drama Circle productions over the years including Seamus Shields in “The Shadow of a Gunman” (1992); Tom Hannigan in “Many Young Men of Twenty” (1995); Pats Bocock in “Sive” (2010); Jack Mick in Big Maggie (2016); Jack Mick in “Big Maggie” (2019);

Directing credits include “Big Maggie” (1999); “Wasn’t It A Full Life?” (2016); “Stolen Child” (2018); “Yeats By Candlelight” (2015/2017/2019);

As a director, Michael put a lot of thought, effort and background research into his preparation. He came to rehearsals with a plan (sometimes written on small scraps of paper!) and had a vision of how he wanted a production to look. He was an “actor’s director” in that he promoted the collaborative approach to a production and always asked for the actor’s opinion in the rehearsal room.

A Sligo man through and through, Michael was proud of his roots and was equally proud of the role of the Sligo Drama Circle in the social history of the town. Michael had a long association with the Drama Circle and was intimately involved in the negotiations leading to the development of our premises in the Market Yard in 1998/99.

Michael was an active member of our Committee and was never shy when work needed to be done. He had a great knowledge of literature and generously shared this knowledge and expertise with us.

Like many of his predecessors in the Drama Circle, Michael believed that although we are an amateur group, we could aspire to the highest of professional standards. He was always proud of the achievements of Drama Circle productions, whether he was involved in the production or not.

If Michael was not acting in or directing a production, he was always around in a supporting role either as stage manager, stage hand, sound operator, painting or erecting a set or doing some of the jobs that needed to be done in advance of a production.

Michael was instrumental in reviving our production of “Yeats By Candlelight” for Fleadh Ceoil na hÉireann in Sligo in 2015. He directed the production and revived it again in 2017 and 2019. Michael also believed that, as an organisation, we should make a contribution to the commemorative events surrounding the centenary of the 1916 Rising. So passionate was he, that he researched, wrote and directed a docu-drama which he named “Wasn’t it a Full Life?” which was performed in Sligo Courthouse and Ballymote Library. Michael was even planning to take the director’s role again a new production for next year.

We will miss Michael’s insightful contributions to our Committee meetings; we will miss seeing him arrive by bicycle and parking it inside the door of the Market Yard building; we will miss seeing him in his work apron any time there was a clean-up to be done or a set to be erected; we will especially miss his genial company and ideas for future productions.

We fondly remember Michael and thank him for his great contribution to our organisation’s dramatic and theatrical legacy. His presence around our rehearsal space in the Market Yard will be sorely missed, but never be forgotten.

We in the Sligo Drama Circle extend our condolences to Michael’s wife Myriam, his daughters Gloria and Susan and to his extended family and wide circle of friends.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.