[01:00:00:02 – 01:00:45:17]

Angela Newman: I can. The adult panto, the tagline we use is it’s rude and crude, but never nude. So the adult panto, what makes it different to the family-friendly one is it’s for over-18s only. It’s in a pub so you can drink the whole way through. And also, I like to describe it kind of as Monty Python meets Shrek meets The Office. It is really lovely. I can’t explain the feeling of making other people laugh and knowing that you’ve kind of made a difference in their day and made them smile. And then we hear that as well. You can see it at the show, but we hear it back, and feedback is what kind of keeps you going. It’s what makes you get up in the morning and keep going and doing what you’re doing. So yeah, that’s it really, I suppose.

[01:00:48:12 – 01:01:16:17]

Angela Newman: Yeah, and it’s something I love doing. And we started off with a run of five dates in the Crane Lane Theatre 17 years ago, and now we run for seven weeks, six nights a week. And what’s lovely about it is kind of like the kids’ panto where parents bring the kids. Now the adult kids are bringing their parents. It’s still a family affair, but with pints. So there you go.

[01:01:16:17 – 01:01:29:01]

Geraldine Hennessy: So Angela, welcome back to the Cork Creative podcast. Angela Newman: Pleasure to be back.

Geraldine Hennessy: It’s brilliant to have you on again. Last year we did a fantastic chat about Hysterical Histories. How has the past year been for you and the troops since we last spoke?

[01:01:30:01 – 01:01:46:18]

Angela Newman: Yeah, it’s been a great year. 2025 has probably been our best year yet with Hysterical Histories. You know, what started off six years ago as a four-week run has now turned into a nine-month run of the year. It’s taken over my life, Geraldine.

[01:01:48:03 – 01:02:29:00]

Angela Newman: But no, it’s fantastic. We’re actually still not closed for this season. I’m laughing that our last summer season performance is actually on the 12th of November. It’s incredible. Yeah, it’s incredible. You know, we’ve had, you know, we’re welcoming people now from all over the world. You know, when we started off, I first, I suppose it was just mostly the North American market. And then we’ve got people coming from, you know, the Asian markets and all over Europe and a lot of people who don’t speak English as a first language and stuff like that. So at the beginning of the year, we did a TV slot for a documentary about Irish tourism in Chile. So I’m famous in Chile. I’ve been on Chilean TV now.

[01:02:30:02 – 01:02:57:15]

Angela Newman: But we’ve had a huge influx of people from South America because of that TV documentary. And we did a number of podcasts for Tourism Ireland Germany this year. So I feel like I’m in the Hasselhoff. I’m big in Germany, Geraldine. But yeah, we’ve had a number of quite a large number of people just coming to Cork specifically to do the walking tours with us or see the show because of those podcasts, which is fantastic. Yeah, it’s been great. It’s been a really good year.

[01:02:57:15 – 01:03:08:15]

Geraldine Hennessy: And how you just mentioned there about a lot of them not having English being their first language. How is it? Is it just more about the acting side of things? So is the experience?

[01:03:08:15 – 01:03:11:17]

Angela Newman: So I suppose we’re quite animated.

[01:03:14:09 – 01:03:30:17]

Angela Newman: The Irish people are animated anyway. We do a lot of speaking with our hands and things like that. But in Hysterical Histories, we’re used to people not having English as a first language or just not being familiar with our accents, or colloquialisms, that kind of thing. So we do slow down quite a bit.

[01:03:31:18 – 01:04:20:15]

Angela Newman: And then if you kind of you get the vibe very quickly, if people look confused in the audience to kind of do more speaking with your hands or almost acting everything out. And of course, there’s a lot of music and music is, you know, there’s no language really, even if you’re singing in English, you’re getting the vibe from the music itself. So that seems to work for people really well. And we’ve got reviews and lots of different languages now on Facebook and Instagram and, you know, GetYourGuide and TripAdvisor and all that. And it’s funny because I was like, oh, how are we supposed to know what they’re saying? So we’ve got the Google Translate switched on so we know that they’re all really good reviews and stuff like that as well. Like, I mean, they’d have a fair bit of English, you know, or would be able to understand things? But yeah, that’s how we’re doing it, I suppose. Yeah.

[01:04:20:15 – 01:04:36:10]

Geraldine Hennessy: It works on it. Yeah, very good. And in our last interview, you spoke with such passion about your love for Cork history, which is the heart of, I suppose, Hysterical Histories. Have you uncovered any new fascinating local stories in the last year?

[01:04:36:10 – 01:05:42:12]

Angela Newman: You know what we always do. And I think that’s down to the people who come to the show. And like I think I mentioned last year that like 65% of our audiences are actually from Cork, which is huge. And speaking to other dinner theatre experiences around the country, they wouldn’t have that same number. And we’re really lucky because we’re not dependent on overseas travellers to come to the show to keep us kind of going. But you know, Cork people are super proud of Cork. So when they do come, they do love to share their own stories and experiences. We’re constantly learning new things about Cork or, you know, about local people that we didn’t hear about before. And we try to incorporate those and we try to update the show every year.

But we did, we were really lucky this year during the Cork on a Fork Festival to be invited to perform in the Imperial, the Imperial Hotel, which is actually the oldest hotel in Cork City. And so when we were performing there, what we did was we included the history of the hotel itself. And actually, just the absolute pleasure of working with the two concierges,

[01:05:43:19 – 01:06:48:09]

Angela Newman: …you know, the people who just open the door and they welcome people, but they’ve been there a very long time, both of them have been there since the 70s. And some of the stories they have about people and about celebrity guests and, you know, who’s trouble to work with and who isn’t kind of thing, that was really eye-opening, but also really entertaining. And so when we rewrote the opening for the Imperial, we did uncover quite a lot of information about when Grace Kelly or Princess Grace and Prince Rainier stayed in the hotel in the 60s, like we didn’t realise it was such a big deal. And I’d never heard them staying in Cork. I knew they visited, but I didn’t know that they actually stayed or where they stayed.

And apparently there was people completely lined on both sides of the street. And it was, you know, very much like a paparazzi kind of a situation in the 60s. But sure, in Cork, that was completely unheard of at the time. And, you know, people shouting at her, “Where did you get your dress?” Which I thought was just really funny from Cork people. I was like, like you could afford a Christian Dior dress, you know, in the 60s in Cork. You know, just things like that. You know, it was really lovely. And to hear that, you know,

[01:06:49:12 – 01:07:42:15]

Angela Newman: …Charles Dickens, when he did a reading in the Cork Opera House, the old opera house, the Athenaeum, when he stayed there as well, afterwards, he came back to the residents’ bar and did another private reading in the residents’ bar, which apparently went on to all hours of the morning. Which I think are just really lovely little local stories, you know, so we’re constantly picking up stories like that. And especially when we get to, you know, get asked to perform in other places, we will go out of our way to, you know, ask the people who work there, you know, what their experiences are, what their memories are as well. So we’re getting all of these lovely little nuggets of historical information from people. It’s really important that those stories don’t, you know, die out with these people as well, because, you know, you use little gems of local knowledge as well, you know, with people. So it’s important to be listening to each other, because we all have really nice stories. Nice memories about Cork City.

[01:07:43:20 – 01:07:44:01]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah.

[01:07:45:01 – 01:07:52:22]

Geraldine Hennessy: And I suppose like nowadays, it overall would be captured on social media, whereas before it wasn’t. So it’s important to document it. And what a great way to document it.

[01:07:52:22 – 01:09:01:22]

Angela Newman: I suppose that older generation of people as well, they’re just not on social media, or if they are, they don’t really know how to use it properly, or, you know, are kind of scared of sharing personal stories, or think nobody’s going to be interested as well. And we do hear that a lot from older people who come to the show, they say, do you want to hear my story, you know, instead of just volunteering it, and I think there’s something really lovely about that. I’m like, of course, you can share your story with us.

And it’s just really nice to listen to them, because honestly, some of the stories they have, and, you know, they’ll have reasons why streets are named what they are, or what they used to be named before, you know, they’ll have nicknames for things, or, you know, or people in the city that we wouldn’t have heard of before. And it’s just really nice to hear those little, those little stories. And it’s kind of like listening, sitting down and having a conversation with your, your granny or your granddad and having a cup of tea and giving them the time. And I mean, no, that’s not to say the two concierges in, in the Imperial Hotel have time to have tea, they do not. I walked around and toddled around after them while they were working, and chatting, you know, and I mean, they were eventually they were like, we’re having a tea break, you know,

[01:09:03:02 – 01:09:36:05]

Angela Newman: …but it was really nice, just to just kind of stand there and listen to them chatting and chat with each other and reminisce about things or kind of go, Oh, do you remember this, you know, which was lovely to witness as well. Some of the stories we did actually share in the show, members of staff in the Imperial were like, it’s really nice to hear it told like that, like the way you tell it, you know, as well. So that, yeah, it is lovely. And it’s, it’s important that we don’t lose these things. And do you know what, just for your listeners, go ask people questions. Maybe some answers. Yeah, absolutely.

[01:09:37:20 – 01:09:51:16]

Geraldine Hennessy: And now today we’re diving into something a little bit different than what’s loved Cork tradition of the adult panto. For any listeners who might not be familiar, could you explain what exactly an adult panto is, and how it differs from the family-friendly version?

[01:09:51:16 – 01:10:26:18]

Angela Newman: I can. The adult panto, the tagline we use is it’s rude and crude, but never nude. And so the adult panto, what makes it different to the family-friendly one is it’s for over-18s only. And it’s in a pub, so you can drink the whole way through. And also, I like to describe it kind of as Monty Python meets Shrek meets The Office. It’s kind of, it’s very sarcastic. It’s quite topical. And actually, it dates back to almost Shakespearean times, adult panto, really.

[01:10:27:21 – 01:11:50:13]

Angela Newman: So pantomime was never actually made for children originally. And it only became kind of a genre for children in the Victorian times. And pantomime is very much, I suppose, just an English and UK tradition, Irish and UK tradition. And it was very satirical theatre. So they would use, you know, fairy tales to tell kind of sordid details about the king or queen’s lives or whoever were in charge. And because you’re telling it through somebody else’s eyes, you weren’t going to get in trouble. And it’s basically what we do in the adult panto. I mean, we use a fairy tale as a base, and we add things that are going on locally in Irish politics or local politics or the news here. And we interject those into the script throughout. So that’s what makes it different.

And we, I always say, we say the things that everyone else is afraid to say, or we’re all thinking out loud. And so that’s holding a mirror up to society if we’re going to get all creative about it. But that’s what we’re doing for the adult panto. And it’s quite a nice tradition. I mean, we’ve been, this is year 17. And this way predates Hysterical Histories. And actually, Hysterical Histories was born out of the adult panto because people were coming to the adult panto saying, you know, would you not do something in the summer?

[01:11:51:16 – 01:12:38:04]

Angela Newman: So I was like, you know what, I might as well use that history degree that I have sitting in the back burner there. And so that’s how Hysterical Histories happened is because of the adult panto. And it’s literally the highlight of my year. You think I’m passionate about Irish history; I’m more passionate about the adult panto. Yeah, that’s something I love doing. And we started off with a run of five dates in the Crane Lane Theatre 17 years ago. And now we run for seven weeks, six nights a week. And it sells out every single year. So like the tickets have been on sale now about four weeks. And the tickets are absolutely flying out the door. Like I think we’ve got less than 100 tickets left for weekends. And there’s like six weekends. So yeah, that’s what the adult panto is in a nutshell.

[01:12:39:04 – 01:12:49:16]

Angela Newman: And what’s lovely about it is kind of like the kids’ panto, where parents bring the kids. Now the adult kids are bringing their parents. And so it’s still a family affair.

[01:12:50:18 – 01:12:51:21]

Angela Newman: But with pints.

[01:12:53:19 – 01:13:07:10]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah, that’s it. Very good. And this year’s one is The Little Mermaid Goes Deep. And so and it’s like the panto is generally famous for a threesome or a sharp humour and sad show. What is the writing process like?

[01:13:07:10 – 01:15:03:03]

Angela Newman: We actually start writing the previous year during the panto because when we’re all together in a room, we’ll come up with really good ideas, because that’s the headspace you’re in. And so we’ll kind of, we start making notes kind of like on our phones or writing things down on a piece of paper. And I said, “Oh, you know what we could have done” or “you know what panto we could do.” And so that’s kind of the beginning of the process.

And then we kind of get together, there’s myself, Maria Donovan, and Dara Keating. So Maria and myself have been involved since the beginning. And we’re the only two OGs left, the originals in the panto cast. And then Dara Keating was in the show for four years himself. And he’s taken a step back, but he’s still on the writing team. So we get together in like June, we sit down, we go through, we decide, we go through all the notes we’ve made, we decide on the actual title of the show, and the theme of the show. And then from there, we start piecing it together. And so we’ll have notes on our phones, like Marie always has a list of songs that we haven’t used yet on her phone always. And she’d be like, we’d be out or after a show, I’m like, “Oh, add that.” And she’s got it on her phone. And then Dara would have phrases or political topical things that might have happened during the year, he’s making a note of that. And I’ll be making note of like jokes and, you know, themes and ideas.

And so then we come together, swap those ideas in June, and then the writing kind of starts from there. But then once we get into rehearsals, things can change as well, you know. So obviously, we’ve worked with a fantastic bunch of creatives, actors, directors, you know, stage crew, all of those people. And so they all will have kind of like, “Oh, can I make a suggestion?”, you know, so there’d be little tweaks or additions in rehearsals as well, because we’re open to it very much being a collaborative process. Once we’re in the room together, there’s no point in hiring really talented people if you’re not going to listen to what they have to offer. So, so that’s basically how we come up with the script every year.

[01:15:04:07 – 01:15:09:17]

Geraldine Hennessy: So it’s quite a fluid process. And it seems like something that’s always on your mind.

[01:15:10:18 – 01:15:14:12]

Angela Newman: Always.

[01:15:15:21 – 01:16:07:16]

Geraldine Hennessy: You’re there in your thermals going, “Christmas panto.”

[01:15:15:21 – 01:16:07:16]

Angela Newman: Very, very accurate. Actually, it’s the times where I actually get to slow down. I’m like, “Oh, I’ve had this thought.” And the one person who’s really funny for that actually is Dara. He will be anywhere in the world. He’s a very big fan of voice notes. So he’ll, he’ll leave a voice note like, “You might want to listen to this privately,” because it’s clearly going to be adult and things in nature. And he doesn’t want you listening to it in front of, you know, a poolside full of children. And then he’ll go, he’ll give you like 30 seconds on the voice note of silence and then come back with, “Right, I’ve had this great idea,” you know, so it’s, it’s quite funny. So we’re laughing all year at different ideas, you know. I mean, obviously, not all of them make it into this year’s panto, but they might be worked for next year or the year after. And we have been known to keep things on the back burner for three, four or five years, and then whip them out when we think that’s perfect timings, you know, so yeah.

[01:16:09:16 – 01:16:24:23]

Geraldine Hennessy: And you bring out a brand new show each year. What are the unique challenges, I suppose, and creative freedoms associated with developing entirely new material in a short cycle, especially when compared to running like an established production, like Hysterical Histories from once finished?

[01:16:24:23 – 01:16:26:17]

Angela Newman: Yeah. Well, I suppose for us,

[01:16:27:18 – 01:17:12:20]

Angela Newman: I never really look at it as a challenge, like a difficulty; I get really excited about the whole process. And the casting is a big one for us because we don’t always have exactly the same cast. And so it depends on people’s availability. I mean, we lost a person to the West End this year. So we’re sad to see Shannon go from Hysterical Histories, but we had to replace Shannon then, you know, and then we lost Katie to Dublin. She’s moved to Dublin. So these kind of things, it’s an opportunity to, I suppose, open it up. And we always have open auditions when we need somebody. And you’d be really surprised at the people that we discovered through open auditions. I mean, everyone, apart from myself, who started the company,

[01:17:14:01 – 01:17:45:04]

Angela Newman: …we found through open auditions. And so that’s really exciting. I really love that part about just seeing what’s out there and who’s coming out of college and who’s coming back to Cork or who’s moved to Cork or, you know, those kind of things. It’s that’s really exciting. And I suppose the challenges are we hate repeating ourselves. We do not repeat. And we’re really tough on ourselves. And so, you know, we’ll be in the room and someone will come up with an idea. I’m like, “Nope, that was three years ago. We’ve done that. Nope. We did that 10 years ago. Nope. We’ve done that.” So that is a challenge, I suppose.

[01:17:46:22 – 01:19:01:16]

Angela Newman: But, you know, it’s a good challenge because it gets your, your brain juices flowing or whatever. And you come up with more creative workarounds or ideas that we haven’t thought of before, which I do like. And the same goes for obviously, you know, songs that we’ve used before. I’m absolutely terrible at remembering which songs we’ve used. Whereas if Maria Donovan wasn’t involved, I wouldn’t have a clue. Like last year, I think I suggested a song for myself. And Marie turned to me. She was like, “You, you sang that as a solo like four years ago. You did.” And I was like, “I can’t remember.” So, you know, there are challenges, obviously. And you’re like, “Oh, we used that song already. That would have been perfect for here.” Or. Yeah. But as I said, it just forces you to think outside the box a bit more and to be a bit more creative, you know.

And, you know, obviously we haven’t had to repeat ourselves yet story-wise in 17 years. And I suppose in the pantos and the operas and Everyman, they, they repeat themselves every five years. I mean, it’s not exactly the same script, but it’s the same theme every five years. And so with us, we haven’t done that. It’s been 17 years. And people are saying to us like, “You’re going to run out of stories eventually.” And I was like, “Nah, you know, the Brothers Grimm wrote 200 fairy tales. I think we’re good.” You know, it’s, it’s fine.

[01:19:01:16 – 01:19:02:02]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah.

[01:19:02:02 – 01:19:04:16]

Angela Newman: Yeah. Now, most of them weren’t good. But, you know,

[01:19:06:02 – 01:19:20:01]

Angela Newman: …so there’s plenty of stories out there if you’re willing to adapt, you know. And so it is, it is that; it’s just trying to decide which one we’re going to do every year. There’s, there’s always a couple in the running. Yeah. So they’re, they’re kind of the challenges, I suppose, if you want to call them challenges. Yeah.

[01:19:21:07 – 01:19:34:00]

Geraldine Hennessy: And it’s obviously like pantomime is incredibly interactive. How does the adult element change the dynamic of that audience participation? I can only imagine kind of gets quite lively. But there’s alcohol

[01:19:34:00 – 01:19:44:05]

Angela Newman: …involved, Geraldine. So, you know, do you know what I will say? We actually expected it when we started off to be much worse than it actually is.

[01:19:45:10 – 01:20:22:00]

Angela Newman: And I think for other pantos, it can be much worse. But for us, it’s we have such a crazy loyal following. We’ve been there, you know, every year, like without fail for 17 years, we have people who travel from all over the country to the show. People come from Belfast for the weekend. We’ve busloads come from Galway, Dublin, Tipperary, Kerry. And we get phone calls from the States for people coming home for Christmas who want to be sure they’re all getting, you know, the same night as their family. Australia, Germany, we have so many Germans who come to the show. I don’t know why we’re really popular with Germans.

[01:20:23:07 – 01:21:03:12]

Angela Newman: Yeah. So, yes, we, we do have people come from all over the world who take it really seriously. So they’re destined to listen to every single word we’re saying. And we only interject when we ask them to. And it’s all the regular ones that we get them to do. It’s all the “he’s behind you.” “Oh, no, you’re not.” “Oh, yes, you are.” And, you know, they are together. You know, all of those kinds of things that they love getting involved in. And we will generally have an audience participation number somewhere in the show, which will be new. But yeah, it’s only very rarely that you might have somebody who has a couple of too many and might shout something at you. But we’re so used to that.

[01:21:05:01 – 01:21:07:02]

Angela Newman: We just have an answer for everything, you know.

[01:21:08:06 – 01:21:14:22]

Angela Newman: Yeah. Yeah. And we kind of, you know, if it’s loud enough and it’s relevant, we’ll make a joke out of it. If it’s not relevant, we’ll just ignore it and keep going.

[01:21:14:22 – 01:21:15:23]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah. Yeah.

[01:21:15:23 – 01:21:26:13]

Angela Newman: But generally, generally, it’s not, it’s not raucous. It’s not like over the top. And, you know, unless we want them to be. And

[01:21:26:13 – 01:21:32:09]

Geraldine Hennessy: Are there any particular funny or memorable moments from a performance that you’d like to share?

[01:21:33:16 – 01:23:57:05]

Angela Newman: Yeah, we did have this one, this one woman who was very into the show. But it was the night we were filming the performance. I mean, normally, a hidden camera when we’re filming because people will actually stand. It’s like when you’re doing a news report, people will wave at the camera. You know, we’ll hide the camera somewhere. But she didn’t realise that she was like right in front of the camera. So we heard everything she said. But she was talking away to our friends like, “Oh, isn’t this great? Whatever.” And, you know, “Johnny did such and such a subject in schools.” We could hear everything. So our video.

So at one point, the day actually from the stage, I’d say “You’re being, you’re on camera. We can hear everything you’re saying because the camera was behind your head,” and she was absolutely mortified. But, you know, we just made a thing of it. Then we actually asked her what her name was. And we just involved her in the show, you know, and we are recording in the end because we just recorded another night. But it was quite funny that she was just so into it. It was like she was watching TV, but she was commenting to her friends out loud about what was happening like three feet away from her, forgetting that she was one, she could be heard and two, not knowing she was on camera. So that was quite funny, actually. Great feedback. It was, his live feedback was great.

And for a 10th one, we actually live streamed it. And when you live stream something, I don’t know if everybody knows this, but it’s not live. It’s a couple of seconds delay. So from backstage, we had an iPad backstage. And so when we finished the scene, we could come back and watch backstage the end of the scene and the audience’s reaction. And I really loved that. I actually got quite emotional watching it because it was our 10th one. And just the comments coming in online, you could see them, you know, like people from all over the world who had emigrated or hadn’t seen the Panto in a long time. Or, you know, we had a lovely lady who was actually going through chemo who hadn’t missed a Panto yet. And, you know, it was just really nice to see her comments kind of saying like, “I can’t believe I’m actually getting to see this.” And we surprised people. We didn’t announce it until like an hour before the show. So unless you were back, you weren’t going to see it. And it was a very last minute decision. And we haven’t done it since. So it was because it was our 10th one and we were sold out for the run. And we were saying, “Ah, there’s bound to be people who missed it and couldn’t get tickets and that share.” So that was really special to see all of those comments coming in live during the show. And yeah, that’s a memory that I always have with me and not particularly funny one, but it’s a nice one, I guess.

[01:23:57:05 – 01:24:12:13]

Geraldine Hennessy: Nice one. Exactly. Yeah. And you mentioned the cast there. You work with a regular cast for the Panto. How important is that chemistry and trust on stage, especially when the comedy is so fast-paced and relies on perfect timing?

[01:24:12:13 – 01:24:35:14]

Angela Newman: Yeah. And there’s a lot of slapstick as well, which is really important that you’re tuned for that. So nobody gets hurt, you know, it’s hugely important to that. So myself and Marie, as I said, were the core cast as in been there since the beginning. And I guess there wasn’t an adult Panto genre until we started this. And so when we got into it, we had both done a lot of musical theatre and Panto before, which is quite similar.

[01:24:36:21 – 01:25:54:21]

Angela Newman: But as you said, like performing for an adult audience is completely different from doing Panto for kids. I mean, you know, I think when you’re doing kids too some actors can be quite patronising towards the audience, towards the kids, you know, they kind of talk down to them a little bit. You obviously wouldn’t get away with that with an adult audience. And so there was an element of really kind of finding your feet and kind of almost inventing this new performance method and also over time, realising or monitoring how audiences will react to different things, you know, what they will listen to, what they won’t. And for example, we’ll never, ever have a slow song in the adult Panto ever. There’ll be no slow love songs because our audiences will just go to the bar.

And so that’s something that we’ve learned. Whereas in the kids’ Panto, they’re like, “Oh, they’re in love.” Whereas adult audiences are more cynical about these things. And so, you know, so those kind of things you learn as you’re moving along. And then myself and Maria Donovan have been working together for 18 years. We started before Panto when she was there, when we started developing the process. And, you know, she was the first person I called when the idea kind of came to us. And I kind of said, “Look, I don’t know if I can pay you, but I’ve had this idea. If we work for profit share, what do you think?” And she was like, “I’m in.” So and then, you know, it’s nice now that we’re making money.

[01:25:56:23 – 01:26:23:10]

Angela Newman: Here for was going to work as an idea. And she was just in from the beginning. And we do very much have a very short hand. I mean, we’ve been working together on Hysterical Histories and working together for 18 years. And we can almost psychically see by our facial expressions what’s going on. And so that’s really nice. And then so when new people come into the cast, there’s that like cushion almost that it’s not like a terrifying thing that you’re going to be performing in a fairy tale, which can be quite intimidating for a lot of people.

[01:26:24:12 – 01:26:56:01]

Angela Newman: And we’re afraid the audience are so close to us as well. It’s a small space. And that can be really terrifying. I mean, if you’re not used to it, at least they’ve us to kind of go, “It’s fine. This is how you cope with that. If you need us, this is what you do.” Like you can give us kind of like a signal or whatever. And so we’ve been told by the newer, we call them the newbies, the newer cast members each year that it’s lovely to kind of have us to bounce off of and kind of go, “Okay, here’s the standard that we need to meet and meet us there,” you know.

[01:26:57:04 – 01:28:01:20]

Angela Newman: Yeah. And as well, to show them that it’s okay to have, we can work really hard and take something seriously, but we can also have fun doing it. And I think that’s really we have that core team, you know. And I mean, our director, Kieron Birmingham, this is his second year directing and he was in it the previous year. So there was three. We have him now for three years. Michael Ryan is back for his second year. Osheen Carroll is his first year this year. So there’s a nice kind of mix of people who have done a good few years and then people have done a few years, you know. And as I said, like also one of the writers, Dara, he was in four and he’s written three, you know, after the seven years. So it’s people do keep coming back or we have had people who’ve gone and come back again. And it’s really nice to kind of have that. And it’s kind of like a family, really. Like Marina would kill me and call me all sentimental if she heard me calling a family. But it is really. I mean, I feel like it and it’s Christmas time. So it’s, it’s nice to have that feeling that you’re with family and you’re just having four families. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:28:01:20 – 01:28:09:18]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah. And what advice would you give to an aspiring actor in Cork who’s trying to get into maybe the local theatre scene?

[01:28:09:18 – 01:28:22:00]

Angela Newman: Training, training, training, training. People make the mistake of thinking you can do something before getting any training, even if you’re going to do it at an amateur level, go take a class.

[01:28:23:01 – 01:30:04:12]

Angela Newman: I would say to people it gives you the confidence or kind of also you get to meet people through classes and, you know, and even your teacher, like who’s obviously going to be professional, might see something in you and then recommend something else. It’s a kind of a stepping stone. I think people kind of make that mistake of thinking it’s easy. What we do is not easy. And our way of life is not easy. It’s really difficult and, you know, not financially stable. And so there were, there were people you need to talk to for advice. If you’re going to go into this personally, I always say to people, why teach? I’m like, if you want to act, do it as a hobby. If you need to act, that’s when you can go into it as a profession because you will make it work. If you need to do it, it’s almost like an addiction. It is an addiction. That’s what it is. Or the need to be in a room with creative people is, you know, it’s like I almost like somebody actually called it a calling recently. And I was like, I’d actually kind of agree with you. Like, I feel like I need to be in a room with creative people all the time.

And so I would say to people, if you want to do something, hobby; if you feel like you need to do it, that’s when you know you need to do it professionally. And so training is how you do that for the start. Take a class, chat to an actor friend or a performer friend, you know, and see what their life is like. They might have advice for you. And then not every class will be for you either. So don’t be afraid to kind of shop around, try a class. If you don’t feel like you’re getting anything from that, move on and find something that fits for you. Because I think a lot of people make the mistake of sticking with the teacher because they’ve had them since they were a child.

[01:30:05:18 – 01:30:16:08]

Angela Newman: You know, the same teacher might not be able to carry you through to being a, you know, professional. It’s a different kind of scope, you know. But yeah, that’s my advice.

[01:30:16:08 – 01:30:24:18]

Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah. Okay. And are there any other roles or genres, maybe something more serious or dramatic that you’d love to explore in the future?

[01:30:24:18 – 01:30:37:13]

Angela Newman: You know what, this is going to sound now totally now, like I love myself, but I have, I’ve done it all. Like I’ve done TV, I’ve done film, on radio, I’ve done, you know, radio plays,

[01:30:38:13 – 01:31:06:18]

Angela Newman: …you know, I’ve done podcasts, I’ve done, you know, obviously, you know, straight plays, musical theatre, you know, all of that stuff. I, you know, toured nationally with the Shakespearean company for six years. I got to play 25 Shakespearean characters every week for six years. What I would like to do more of, and I did a good bit of it this year, is TV. I’d like to do more. I’m actually in the new season of The Young Offenders, it’s releasing in December.

[01:31:08:00 – 01:31:21:11]

Angela Newman: And I was in season one as well, but it was lovely to be back and have a bigger role this time. And just, I just kind of remembered how much I enjoyed it and like enjoyed being on set.

[01:31:22:17 – 01:31:27:00]

Angela Newman: Yeah, so we’d like to do a bit more of that. So if anybody’s listening, I’m available in 2026.

[01:31:29:16 – 01:31:36:23]

Angela Newman: But yeah, I’d like to do more of that. And obviously, I’m always up for more musical theatre as well, you know, I just love singing and dancing at the same time.

[01:31:38:05 – 01:31:39:20]

Angela Newman: But yeah, yeah, that’s kind of…

[01:31:39:20 – 01:31:58:12]

Geraldine Hennessy: Sounds good. Yeah. Sounds good. And juggling the intense schedule of the panto season, while just kind of finishing up with Hysterical Histories, another potential project, obviously, that you’re involved in, must be a huge undertaking. How would you manage your time and create your, kind of keep your creative energy levels up?

[01:31:58:12 – 01:31:59:19]

Angela Newman: Well, I’ve no social life.

[01:32:01:22 – 01:32:03:02]

Geraldine Hennessy: Your work is your social life.

[01:32:03:02 – 01:32:10:14]

Angela Newman: Thing to go. Do you know what, I, it’s, well, keep my energy levels up, that comes from home.

[01:32:12:15 – 01:32:42:19]

Angela Newman: And being a mom and being forced to get up the morning to make breakfast and stuff. No, it just comes from, I guess, I get my energy levels from feedback from the audiences and people I’m in a room with. And it’s really important that you get really positive, creative people in a room together. And it’s kind of enthusiasm is infectious. And it kind of keeps you going. And working in the arts is different to working in any other, any other industry, I think we’re more empathetic to people’s situations.

[01:32:43:22 – 01:34:33:04]

Angela Newman: So it does, like I said, become like a family and you do create friendships and you do have a lot of support from each other and a lot of support, even when you move on to other projects, you know, we’ll go and support them and go and see each other in different things and give feedback and help people out. And I think that’s really important. And I definitely couldn’t do what I do without support of my family, like my larger, wider family. Like my mother is a costume designer. She’s one of the best in the country, but she works for me, but she’s also my mom. So understands, you know, I need a break or maybe I need a lift somewhere. You could pick me up from one thing and drop me to another thing. It’ll make my life easier. Might make me a sandwich, you know, that kind of thing. Or like my son is amazing. Like, you know, the nights I’m working, he’ll cook dinner. It’ll be in the microwave. So those little things really do help when you’re very busy at this time of the year.

And I also have amazing teams like on both shows. Obviously, there’s a bit of crossover with Marie and myself, but we have two different creative teams working on the two different shows and they kind of keep me in check as in kind of going, “We need this by whatever” and or remind me of things. I’m like, “I write everything down, but there’s bound to be something I forget.” So Marie is particularly good at reminding me of things and Kieron the director of the Panto reminding me of stuff as well. And I’m like, “I really appreciate those little reminders in text form. Thank you very much.” And but it really is. Yeah. And just being prepared like I always say to the newbies before you go into Panto season, start taking multivitamins like now, start taking them in September. So you don’t get sick. You can’t slow down. There is no understudies. You just need to keep going. But what is lovely as well as if you do happen to get sick, that the care that other people in the team have for you, it’s like, you know, they bring in honey and lemon or recommend something or it’s like a pharmacy backstage at the Panto.

[01:34:34:20 – 01:34:37:06]

Angela Newman: It’s just the medication.

[01:34:37:06 – 01:34:52:09]

Geraldine Hennessy: It must be like the timing, like it must be so hard though, because it’s like sick season is when Pantomime season is on, you know,

[01:34:45:03 – 01:34:52:09]

Angela Newman: We’re in very, very close quarters. So everyone’s bound to get, you know, sniffles at least. And then a Panto with pneumonia. That was fun.

[01:34:53:10 – 01:35:36:13]

Angela Newman: And yeah, and a broken toe. That was another, there was there was another year. So like these things happen, you know, you’re just gonna have to keep going. But yeah, how I keep going is basically a multivitamins support from other people and basically just my enthusiasm and the joy that what I do brings to myself and other people. So it is really lovely. I can’t explain the feeling of making other people laugh and knowing that you’ve kind of made a difference in their day and made them smile. And then we hear that as well. You can see it at the show, but hearing back and feedback is what kind of keeps you going. It’s what makes you get up in the morning and keep going and doing what you’re doing. So yeah, that’s that’s it really, I suppose.

[01:35:36:13 – 01:35:45:06]

Geraldine Hennessy: Very good. And once the curtain falls in the Panto for the last time this season, what’s next on the horizon for 2026?

[01:35:46:14 – 01:35:52:14]

Angela Newman: That almost straight back into Hysterical Histories again. Yeah, like we finish the Panto on the 10th of January.

[01:35:53:18 – 01:38:12:22]

Angela Newman: I’ll take a break and probably hide for a week. And then or be sick. It generally happens. It just probably be sick when you stop. Yeah, they’ve off the illness for seven weeks and then get sick at the end. But there’s that and I suppose we’re back into Hysterical Histories properly for St. Patrick’s week. So it’s into into maybe recasting if somebody is dropping out or whatever or you know, making new costumes, re-rehearsing and adding new sections, that kind of thing. And then we’re running March right through to the middle of October with Hysterical Histories. And then we I’m breaking away and I work for other people as well. And so there’s a project that I can’t speak about yet. It’s a top secret project for Midsummer Festival that we’re not producing. It’s I’m just in it as one of the actors, which is lovely to by the way, I would just say it’s really nice not to be in charge all the time. And there’s talk of that going to the Galway Arts Festival as well.

And so yeah, it’s this time of year we kind of find out what’s happening because all of the Arts Council grants, you know, are coming through or are not coming through, you know, case by case. So you kind of start filling the calendar. And it’s it’s really nice for Hysterical Histories that we’ve got such a great team and of understudies as well that I can take the breakaway and pull away and work on something else for a few weeks and then come back to Hysterical Histories again. And likewise soak in the cast, because it’s such a long run, you can’t really lock people in for that amount of time. And you need to let them kind of spread their wings and do other things and come back refreshed. And so yeah, that’s kind of what we have planned. And there may be a bit of travel as well in February or April as well for Tourism Ireland, because I do a lot of MCing for Irish events abroad. And so we’re kind of talking about that at the moment and seeing which ones I can do and can’t do, which is always lovely. It’s a pleasure, it’s an honour to go and represent Cork and Ireland abroad and meet some incredible people when I’m doing that. And I was in London two weeks ago and at a conference and it was just really nice to catch up with all these people that I have toured with, that I’ve performed with or interviewed abroad at various things for Tourism Ireland. So that’s always really nice. So yeah, there’s probably a bit of that in there too. So yeah, I might squeeze a holiday in some point.

[01:38:12:22 – 01:38:16:02]

Geraldine Hennessy: Sounds busy Angela, sounds busy.

[01:38:16:02 – 01:38:17:04]

Angela Newman: Always.

[01:38:18:08 – 01:38:32:12]

Geraldine Hennessy: Well thanks so much Angela for joining us on the Cork Creative Podcast. If you’d like to learn more about Angela and this year’s Adult Panto, The Little Mermaid Goes Deep, you can find links to their website socials on CorkCreative.ie. Thanks so much.

[01:38:32:12 – 01:38:34:01]

Angela Newman: Thanks Geraldine, lovely speaking to you.