News

Rise Productions Returns to Dublin Fringe

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 23:44:58 +0100

After three years, Rise Productions finally makes its long awaited return to Dublin Fringe Festival this year with a brand new show, The Games People Play. Written by acclaimed playwright Gavin Kostick, The Games People Play reunites the entire creative team behind the multi award-winning international hit Fight Night, with Bryan Burroughs back directing and Colm Maher on design. Aonghus Óg McAnally returns to performing duties, and this time is joined on stage by rising star Lorna Quinn.
The Games People Play will premiere at Temple Bar’s New Theatre as part of Dublin Fringe Festival from September 17th – 21st, and then transfer directly to The Viking Theatre at Connolly’s Sheds in Clontarf, from September 23rd – 28th.

For further details and booking information, visit:

www.fringefest.com/programme/the-games-people-play

or

www.vikingtheatredublin.com

Globe trotting, and hanging up the gloves...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:29:48 +0100

It’s a bittersweet week here at Rise Towers, with two pretty huge announcements. First and foremost, the great news is that next month will see the first leg of the long-awaited international tour of Fight Night. We’ve been invited to the Mayfesto Festival at Glasgow’s Tron theatre, which is a massive honour for us here at Rise Productions, as we will follow in the footsteps of many great Irish companies that have previously taken part. It’s a great opportunity for us to play the show to a completely new audience, and it’s a first step in further spreading the word on the style of theatre we make here at Rise.
However, this will be a very different Fight Night, as Aonghus Óg McAnally today announced that he will be leaving the show. Having started development on Fight Night four years ago, and having actively worked on it for the last two, he felt it was time to step back, take stock, and give the show a fresh injection of energy and perspective that only a new performer could bring.
“The last two years of (literally) blood, sweat and tears have been the happiest and most fulfilling of my career. Fight Night has been incredibly good to me, and has opened up doors professionally that I didn’t even know existed. Whilst I have loved every second of performing this piece, it was never my intention to be in the first Rise Productions show, as this was never to be about ‘vanity publishing.’ As such, having brought the show this far, I feel it’s right to now take a step back and let someone else have a crack at this very special play.”
We’re very close to sealing the deal on who will be stepping into Dan Coyle Jr’s boots, and we’re massively excited about who we have lined up, so stay tuned for further updates!

Irish Times Theatre Awards

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:30:00 +0000

Last Sunday saw Team Fight Night step out on the town for the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, where Gavin Kostick was nominated for Best New Play for Fight Night. Rise Productions co-founders Brian Melarkey and Aonghus Óg McAnally were in attendance alongside Gavin, as of course was Fight Night director Bryan Burroughs (pictured above.) While the award ultimately went to Mark O’Halloran for Trade, a great night was had by all, and it was a wonderful opportunity for the theatre community in general to get together and celebrate the successes of the last year. One or two high profile guests may even have been lined up to record a podcast in the coming weeks, so watch this space!

Irish Times Nomination

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:57:13 +0000

Wow. It feels like every week at Rise Productions, we’ve another piece of amazing news to share with you, and this week is no different. Last Saturday we woke up to the news that Fight Night had been nominated as Best New Play in the Irish Times Theatre Awards, which is an amazing result. It’s a fantastic seal of approval for the exceptional work of Gavin Kostick in writing this special little play for us, and it’s also a great testament to what was (literally in this case!) the blood, sweat and tears put into the show by the entire creative team here at Rise. From the exquisite design of Colm Maher, to the sublime direction from Bryan Burroughs, the punishing work outs from our Boxing coach Cathal Redmond, the trojan work from our producer Brian Melarkey, plus the efforts of a certain Mr. McAnally, we all put so much into the show, and recognition like this is hugely gratifying. The idea that on our very first show as Rise Productions we’d pick up both the awards at the fringe and a nomination like this is pretty staggering, and hopefully it might make life a little easier for us as we face in to making the dreaded “difficult second album” later this year. To everyone who has made this journey possible, from our partners in the Show in a Bag project, to Culture Ireland for their help with ReViewed at the festival, and most importantly; to everyone who chose to come out and buy a ticket, from all of us here at Rise – Thank You.

Podcast Success!

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 21:12:21 +0000

Wow. What a crazy week it’s been. First off, happy new year to one and all – if 2012 continues the way it has started, this could be a pretty spectacular year for all of us here at Rise.
As some of you may know, the the whole podcast thing has really taken off for us. What started as a simple idea between mates, stolen from an American pro-wrestler, has now become a bit of a juggernaut. With 5 episodes in the Top 20, including 2 entries in the Top 10, the Rise Productions: Irish Theatre Podcast made up 25% of the iTunes Christmas chart. With the popularity of these individual episodes, the Podcast itself started climbing up the charts and, yesterday, we woke up to the news that we were the number 2 Performing Arts podcast in the country. Given that we were surrounded by heavyweights from RTE and BBC, this was something we never dreamt would be possible, but seeing as we’d made it that far, we decided to go all out and push for the top spot. The rush of retweets, Facebook shares, iTunes reviews and ratings from you guys was overwhelming, and something magical happened – not only did we secure the top spot in the Performing Arts chart, we became the No. 1 Arts podcast in the country.
It’s a phenomenal achievement and, brilliantly, the added profile and platform it gives us will be a huge help in doing what we set out to do: promoting, supporting and celebrating Irish theatre. And hopefully, it should help put a few more bums on seats around town! Thanks so much to everyone who has helped spread the word so far, and to those yet to do so; maybe now is a good time to start – now that we’ve got the top spot, we don’t want to give it up any time soon.

Podcast goes viral

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:43:50 +0000

Wow. We’ve had an amazing response to the launch of our podcast, receiving hugely positive feedback, with almost everyone asking the same question: Why has no one done this before?! Well, thankfully, it’s here now, and there appears to be a huge hunger for it out there: in the first 24 hours alone, episode 1 was retweeted to 40,000 people, and thousands more on Facebook. This sharing of the podcast is vital, the whole point of the podcast is to support and promote independent Irish theatre, so we really need your help to get it out there to as many people as possible so we can spread the word about the shows and the people who make them.
A massive thank you to Peter Daly for being our first ever guest, and to the good folks at Mutiny studios in Dublin, who hooked us up with all the tech stuff to make it happen. We’ll be bringing you a new episode each week, so make sure you subscribe to the podcast, either here at fightnight.ie or over on iTunes. That way, it’ll download automatically for you each week, and your bus journey/gym session/dog walk can be infinitely more entertaining!
Episode 2 will be up on Thursday, and it’s a good’un...

Stay Tuned!

Fight Night in Carlow

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:36:15 +0000

Last Friday night saw Rise Productions take Fight Night to the GB Shaw theatre in Carlow for what was a very special evening. Leaving aside the fact that the GB Shaw is, without question, the best touring venue anywhere in the country, this was a magical night for many reasons, all of which revolve around Fight Night’s incomparable director, Bryan Burroughs.
It was an honour for us here at Rise to bring Bryan’s award-winning production of Fight Night back to his home town, and to play it to such a packed and appreciative crowd. The warmth of the reception we got, and the sense of pride and admiration for their local boy was palpable throughout both the performance and the post-show discussion (which lasted almost as long as the show itself!).
What was even more remarkable was that the performance happened exactly 10 years to the day since Rise Productions co-founders Brian Melarkey and Aonghus Óg McAnally travelled to Carlow to see Bryan’s massively ambitious and heartwarming production of “The Princess Bride” at his local secondary school. That night they told Bryan they were planning on starting their own company, and that they wanted him to direct their first show. It may have taken a decade, but they got there eventually! Here at Rise Towers, we think it was worth the wait.

Before the performance, local photographer Martin Doyle took some great shots of our run-through which we’ve added to our gallery; check them out here.

On the Road Again...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:59:38 +0100

Never ones to rest on our laurels, Rise Productions are back on the road with Fight Night already, after our week-long hiatus to make Tear Down The Walls. Yesterday saw us returning to Strokestown, Co. Roscommon for the inaugural Fringe Out West festival, which we helped to launch last month. This is a really exciting initiative, bringing top quality, challenging work to audiences who aren’t often afforded the opportunity to see such work in their home county, and hopefully this is just the first of many successful years for Caroilín Callery and her entire team at Strokestown Park House.
This Friday we travel to the GB Shaw theatre in Carlow, arguably the finest venue in the country for both audiences and performers alike. We’re delighted to finally bring Fight Night to the hometown of our director Bryan Burroughs, for what promises to be a very special evening. For tickets and further info, click here.

Rise Productions at UBDTF 11

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:36:19 +0100

Wow. What an exceptional two weeks it has been. Barely a year since we unleashed our first ever show on an unsuspecting Irish public, Rise Productions has just had not one, but TWO shows at the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival.
It was honour for us to have Gavin Kostick’s Fight Night play as part of the ReViewed section of the festival, which was such a valuable opportunity for an emerging company like ours to be seen by both domestic and international audiences. It was a week full of sold-out performances and standing ovations, and an experience that we here at Rise Towers are not likely to forget in a hurry!
The second week of the Festival saw us debut our second show, as part of the Tear Down The Walls event from Project Brand New. The two short companion pieces, “Pitch” and “Interview,” were site responsive pieces made specifically for the performance at the abandoned Murray O’Laoire Architects offices in Dublin’s inner city. Pitch was conceived and created by Rise co-founder Brian Melarkey, while Aonghus Óg McAnally directed Interview. Huge thanks to our talented cast, Keith Hanna (who featured in both pieces) and Terry Orr.

Fight Night comes to Kilkenny

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:35:35 +0100

Well, here we are at the start of week 4 of the Fight Night tour. From the standing ovation on our first night in Castlebar’s Linenhall, to the standing-room only success of yesterday’s performance in historic Strokestown Park House, Co. Roscommon, it has been an amazing adventure. This week will be one of our most gruelling, with dates in Galway, Tralee, Limerick and Donegal, but we’ve had some good news here at Rise Towers to help put a spring in our step – we can now confirm that we’ve added our 18th venue (and 15th county!) to the tour, with the announcement that Fight Night will be coming to Kilkenny’s Watergate Theatre on Saturday November 5th. We’re delighted to be bringing the show to such a sports-mad city, it should be a great night! For tickets and further info, see our touring page here.

Extra Date Added Due to Demand!

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 11:27:04 +0100

Exciting news just reaching us here at Rise Towers that, due to demand, a second date has been added at Axis Ballymun on Thursday November 17th. What’s more, as part of their monthly Dinner Theatre Special, you can enjoy the show and a delicious 3 course meal in the theatre restaurant for just €25! For more details on this amazing deal and to book tickets, click here.

17th venue now added!

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:05:32 +0100

Great news today at Rise Towers: We can now confirm that a 17th venue has been added to the Fight Night tour, with the announcement that we’ll be taking the show to The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim on Thursday September 22nd. Brilliantly, this now means we’ll be playing every single county on the west coast, from Kerry to Donegal, and takes our overall tally to 14 of the 26 counties. For tickets and further information, visit The Dock website here.

Article on New Writing from ITM

Fri, 5 Aug 2011 16:11:47 +0100

Jesse Weaver has a really smart, excellently researched piece in the Irish Theatre Magazine today, looking at the support structures and initiatives for both developing new work and mentoring new writers. It’s a sensible appraisal of the many benefits and potential pitfalls of such schemes, and is well worth a read for anyone interested in creating new theatre pieces. You’ll find it here.

Fight Night on RTE Radio 1

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 15:50:18 +0100

There was an amazing response to the broadcast of Fight Night: The Radio Play last weekend on RTE Radio 1, with texts, facebook messages and tweets flying in to us here at Rise Towers from all over the country and beyond. It’s a testament to Gavin Kostick’s brilliant script that the play transferred so well to another medium. Huge praise also to Bryan Burroughs for re-imagining the piece for a performance without its trademark physical score, and to Richard McCullough for creating a stunning aural soundscape.

If you missed it first time out, you can still catch it on the RTE Radio Drama Archive here.

The Secret’s Out! Fight Night Tour hits Dublin Theatre Festival

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:42:57 +0100

Well, the cat is finally out of the bag. Rise Productions can now reveal that Fight Night by Gavin Kostick will play The New Theatre, Temple Bar as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival for a week-long run during its nationwide tour this Autumn. We’ve been working behind the scenes on this for the last few months, and the excitement here at Rise Towers has been growing in the run up to the official festival launch today. Fight Night director Bryan Burroughs, performer Aonghus Óg McAnally, lighting designer Colm Maher and associate producer Brian Melarkey were all in attendance this evening to see Loughlin Deegan launch his fifth and final festival programme, before taking up his new role at The Lir. For further details on Fight Night at the festival, click here.

Fight Night – The Radio Play

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 07:58:27 +0100

Well Team,

Exciting times here at Rise Towers, we’re putting the very final touches to the upcoming nationwide tour, working behind the scenes on our next production (which will be hitting the stage in 2012) and, most excitingly, working on a radio version of Fight Night for RTE Radio 1. Series producer Kevin Reynolds saw the show during its Bewley's run and invited Rise Productions to re-imagine the show as a piece for radio.

Keeping the script intact, the creative team have re-worked the play for this new medium, while maintaining the visceral feel of the original stage show. This radio production sees Aonghus Óg McAnally reprising the role of Dan Jr, and Bryan Burroughs returns to direct, with sound supervision from Richard McCullough.

Stay tuned for more info!

No Panic!

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 08:07:02 +0100

Well Team,

Crisis averted! After a mild panic (and a quick trip to the physio), it turns out our leading man has thankfully not torn his Achilles, there’s just some inflammation around the tendon. So he's strapped up, ready to rock, and the Fight Night Tour is still green for go! Phew!