‘This is my All-Ireland final, being a proud Tipp artist’

There are not many professional actors from Tipperary; even fewer still combine treading the boards with playing in goals or centre forward in hurling. Cathal Ryan, who hails from The Ragg, near Thurles, has managed to marry his two great passions into a unique one-man show currently in the midst of a 12-date All-Ireland tour until mid-March.

Just like the game that inspired it, PUCKED is a fast-paced and often hilarious production where Cathal plays 27 different characters over 90 minutes. Audiences will get a chance to catch what he calls a “wild ride of a show full of colour, sound, and music” in Kilkenny, Nenagh, Longford, Tralee, Waterford, Ennis, and many more over the next few weeks.

The show follows young Matty, who has been immersed in the GAA from birth, and his one and only dream is to play on the senior team. After years of trying, he has finally made it, or has he?

“He thinks that’s him sorted now. For the rest of his life, he’s going to get the free gear, have a beautiful girlfriend because he’s on the senior team, and bring pride to his parish,” says Cathal, the performer and writer of the one-man show.

“Matty then realises once he’s in that bubble that it’s not all it is cracked up to be, and maybe there’s a darker side to it too that he wasn’t aware of, and how he deals with that.”

While that might sound serious, Cathal says the one-man show is full of fun and laughs courtesy of a whole host of “characters that belong in every parish in Ireland” coming in and out of the action. Conscious that the show will attract many people who don’t normally go to the theatre through the GAA link, he and director Jack Reardon have created a great night out with a message.

“There’s great comedy in it, but [we also capture] the energy of hurling. At one stage in the show, there is a full match, and there’s only one of me,” says Cathal, chuckling. “We kind of go to all of the spots that people in rural Ireland would have gone to growing up—the ball alley, the GAA club, the nightclub. It’s all there, and it’s all relatable and fast, hearty, and loud.”

Premier County

Hailing from the Premier County, there was no escaping hurling in his youth, and Cathal absolutely loved it. He played juvenile hurling with Durlas Óg before his parents moved out to The Ragg, later sporting the Drom and Inch colours from minor up for many years.

When he discovered theatre at 16 or 17, Cathal admits he felt the pressure of having to make a personal choice between it and hurling. There is a responsibility to a rural parish, where hurling is more than a club — you’re part of something, he says.

For him to leave that and go on stage was a daunting thing to do as a young man, the performer concedes. He was worried what people thought, one of the themes of the play.

“Of course there are elements of autobiographical truth in it, but it’s not a true story. I always say PUCKED is the story about Cathal Ryan if he didn’t find acting or theatre,” says the actor.

Having attended local plays since childhood, Cathal says he decided to join Inch Players, the local drama group, in his teens. He recalls fondly later being aged up with grey hair to play a doctor in one scene of A Wake in the West, his first play.

“It’s where I started, and I wouldn’t be here without that [first role] or taking that step to decide to go and join the group,” he enthuses, adding that it was the first taste of the stage and the encouragement that drove him on.

Around the same time, a grand uncle was involved in Thurles Drama Group, who were on the competitive amateur drama circuit. The group reached the All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone where he says the standard is extremely high. A real turning point for him was seeing their production of A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, which is still his favourite play.

“I was like Oh My God — this is what I need to do,” he remembers, saying the feeling was completely different from hurling. “I mean, I [felt] I have a connection to this that is supreme to anything I felt with sport. This is where I belong.”

That led to a decision to go to NUIG in Galway to do an arts with performing arts degree. There, he was “swallowed by the theatre bug” and learnt so much and gained vital experience in the societies.

After getting his parchment, Cathal was “privileged” to be accepted into The Lir Academy in Dublin, where there are only 16 places on offer every year, and people like Paul Mescal are among the famous alumni.

Cathal decided to stop hurling for a while to concentrate on his studies [in NUIG] and, ultimately, to see if he could make acting a career. Ironically, though, hurling didn’t leave him altogether. The idea for the show came from his course and a particular class he found really exciting.

“While all the classes were grear, the one that really resonated was my physical theatre class. My teacher was Bryan Burroughs, and that class was a huge inspiration behind PUCKED.

“We even did a module on one-man shows, and Bryan taught us to make a lot out of a little in the sense of, rather than having a cast of 27, do it all yourself. And then how to bring in a full hurling stadium [through a character] to just you on your own,” says Cathal, who finished his BA in acting training in 2021.

When Irish Country Living initially caught up with the rising star recently, he was in the middle of learning lines. Rather than being daunted by the prospect of carrying a show on his own, he is excited about a “unique experience”.

“In 2022, we did the show in Clonmel, Thurles and Waterford and my favourite compliment was that ‘every young man should see this show’ or ‘you need to get every TY [student] in to see it’.”

Peaks and troughs

Cathal is immensely proud of what he has created, and that is evident throughout our conversation. “I’d do this show a hundred times if I could,” when asked if it will travel further after the February and March run.

He jokes that it’s the closest thing to a child that he has, and he is looking forward to bringing it to many new venues.

“I never played for Tipperary, unfortunately, whereas now going on the road to these different venues seems like the closest thing I can come to representing my county. I suppose this is my All-Ireland final, being a proud Tipperary artist,” he adds, taking a break from a school show where current Tipperary hurling manager Liam Cahill was among the audience.

It’s very social for me, and I enjoy it. It’s something very unique about me, and maybe I used to be the hurler who acts; now I’m the actor who hurls

Back hurling now with Civil Service GAA club in Dublin, where he is based, he now enjoys the sport simply as a pastime. It’s an escape from his work and a lovely taste of home.

“It’s very social for me, and I enjoy it. It’s something very unique about me, and maybe I used to be the hurler who acts; now I’m the actor who hurls.”

While Cathal accepts there will be peaks and troughs with an acting career, he reckons he has been very lucky so far. Last year was probably his best year yet; as part of Druid Theatre’s The House by Tom Murphy.

When asked about future ambitions, he immediately mentions working with his hero Pat Shortt. “If I were ever to share a stage or film set with Pat, it would be a real dream. Being rural men, I’m sure there’s a father and son written that we could do,” says Cathal, laughing.

See @PUCKEDplay on Instagram.