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Fighting talk
Irish actor and musician Kieran Cunningham is currently rehearsing for a new role in the Christmas production at the Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster.
His stint in The Lost Warrior, which opens on November 25, follows his debut performance in the play called Kes at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
It was the city in which Kieran studied drama after leaving his native North of Ireland home for the first time almost 20 years ago.
Now aged 38, Kieran’s home is once more in his home patch of Newry City, but he was delighted to be apart of the Royal Exchange Theatre’s revival of Kes — a critically-acclaimed new version of the poignant story by Barry Hines, which became one of the cult British movies of the late 1960s.
The 1969 film version was directed by Ken Loach, and starred the young David Bradley as Billy Casper. More than 30 years on, the Royal Exchange’s version updated things slightly to the 1970s, but otherwise Lawrence Till’s adaptation of the tale of a boy and a bird stayed true to the spirit of the original.
For Kieran, who variously played a teacher, angry farmer, and a youth employment officer, it meant a lot of switching between accents.
“I veered between Received Pronunciation, my own Irish accent and a very thick Yorkshire dialect but luckily we had a very good dialect coach. It’s a lovely play, and full of optimism, despite the poverty and the central tragedy of Kes and Billy. What it’s really about is hope and freedom.“
There was no such linguistic gymnastics in one of his most recent appearances — as Warder Donelly in an acclaimed production of The Quare Fellow, the rarely performed Brendan Behan classic.
The production, which played Liverpool Everyman, York Theatre Royal and the Tricycle, Kilburn, was directed by award-winning actress Kathy Burke.
It marked the first performance of the drama for more than 20 years and the 50th anniversary of its first staging.
“I played a bit of a villain, a man full of his own importance, and we all had a great time throughout the run. Kathy was fantastic to work with, very down to earth, great fun. I’d love to work with her again. “It was also good to do a Behan play. He tends to get ignored these days, I don’t know why. Maybe because a lot of Irish theatre, especially of the Abbey Theatre school, is a bit ultra-conservative.
“There’s also a thing about Behan because, like a lot of Irishmen, he loved his alcohol too much but he was a brilliant writer who deserves to be performed more often.”
Kieran has wanted to act since he was a small boy and he was a leading light of Newry Youth Drama , where he appeared in tales like Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men.
He went on to study drama at Manchester Metropolitan University (then Manchester Poly) and his contemporaries included John Lynch, who famously starred with Helen Mirren in the film Cal. The two are still friends .
He now divides his time between Ireland and London, where he’s a regular on the Irish music circuit. He’s looking forward to his latest role in The Lost Warrior — a seasonal treat involving Celtic mythology, and lots of magic for family audiences.
intensely proud of his roots, Kieran has appeared in a variety of TV drama, including Yorkshire TV’s Shoot To Kill.
But he does not particularly class himself as an actor with a political axe to grind.
“I grew up on the Catholic side during the Troubles and Newry was and is a nationalist city so I have always been aware of that background but I don’t carry that with me in a highly political sense. Things have changed in Northern Ireland but obviously growing up at that time has to have some influence on how you are.”
Kieran’s family are solidly behind his career — he is the only sibling of three brothers and three sisters to take to the stage.
Inbetween times, he earns a good living as a musician. He is an accomplished singer and guitarist who has appeared several times at the Manchester Irish Festival.
“Many years ago I took some great advice from the actor Colin Blakely, who was also from Co. Down. It was before I went to drama school and he said to me make sure that you always have something to fall back on. I had started playing music at the time so he told me , stick with it. And he was absolutely right. It has helped me out in the lean times
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“I sometimes think it would be very nice indeed to be in a soap opera and very financially secure but generally I’m pretty happy doing what I do. As long as I’m working in the industry and earning a living then I’m OK.
The Lost Warrior is at the Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster, from November 25 until January 1.
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