The Matchmaker John B. Keane’s beloved hit comedy based on the novella “Letters of a County Matchmaker” will play at Cork Opera House.

The production stars television favorite Mary McEvoy known for her roles as “Biddie” in the long running RTE series Glenroe and Irish Actor and comedian Jon Kenny who was part of the Irish comic duo d’Unbelievables with Pat Shortt joins Mary to complete the cast. Kenny is also best known outside Ireland for appearing in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.
Together they play a myriad of characters in this hilarious and earthy dramatic comedy.
The play follows the efforts of Dicky Mick Dicky O Connor to make matches for the lonely and lovelorn. Keane, an avid observer of people and the cultures that bind and create their view of the world uses “The Matchmaker” as an exploration of rural loneliness. Aware that generations of people became masters of their own destinies late in life, and only then began to look for companionship and love, once their duties as minder of aging parents were concluded or they had finally inherited, or were the left over brother or sister.

Using his inimitable way with words and his one sense of “devilment” and wit, Keane delves into the longings, hungers, fears and foibles of this collection of lonely county people and creates a marvellously colourful world, taking us back to a simpler time, when phones were few and far between and the only web was one left behind by spiders.
The show is directed by Michael Scott.