Moat Theatre celebrates 70 years of entertainment
Long standing members Stan Hickey and Cathy Lawlor with founder member, Joe Spring, cutting the Birthday Cake at the Moat Club 70th Anniversary Celebration Night in the Moat Theatre, Naas
THE Moat Club, the renowned amateur drama group based at the Moat Theatre in Naas, celebrated an important milestone in its history – its 70th anniversary. The date chosen was Friday 13th, a surprising choice for a troupe of actors – usually a superstitious lot – but it proved to be an occasion of happiness and pride.
Current and former members gathered together in the Moat Theatre, the club’s home since 1960, to mark the important milestone. The club’s archivist and oldest-living member, Stan Hickey, displayed a fraction of his extension archive of the club’s long and busy life, which the attendees pored over.
The Moat Drama and Table Tennis Club was formed in 1954. Its first home was St John’s Hall, the Naas HQ of the Order of Malta Ambulance Brigade (later Goulding’s hardware). In 1960, the Moat Club purchased the recently vacated Christian Brothers school at the North Moat and converted the upper rooms into a hall for table tennis. The lower rooms were converted into a 125-seat theatre in 1963, known as the Moat Hall. Somewhere along the way, the club dropped the table tennis element and focused on drama, achieving success on the amateur drama circuits for one-act and full-length plays on many occasions.
An important moment in the club’s history was the decision to develop the Moat Hall with a view to creating a state-of-the-art theatre for the town of Naas. The vision was realised when, on 11th April 2003, the new Moat Theatre opened its doors thanks to funding secured from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and Naas Town Council in addition to extensive fundraising by the club.
While in recent times the club has lost many stalwarts of the early years, its history will not be forgotten thanks to the efforts of Stan Hickey. Stan, who will be known to many in Naas for his work with Naas Local History Group, has diligently kept records and photographs of every production and major event in the club’s seven decades.
The Club’s chairperson, Samantha Coventry, called for a minute’s silence to remember members and friends who have passed away. She recalled the high points of the last 70 years and looked forward to a bright future.
Speaking of the future, it will be a busy season for the club; rehearsals have already begun for the club’s next production, Little Red Riding Hood, the annual Christmas pantomime and Naas institution (written and directed by club member Eugene Delaney), tickets for which have just gone on sale.
The club is honoured to have been selected to host the All-Ireland One-act Drama Festival Finals from 6th to 8th December this year, one of the high points of the amateur drama calendar.
