Michael O'Hagan, Colm Gormley & Maureen O'Connell to Join Keith Duffy in A HANDFUL OF STARS at Theatre503

The award-winning fringe venue Theatre503 has announced full casting for their SECOND LOOK production of Billy Roche's play A HAND FULL OF STARS. As previously announced Coronation Street actor and Boyzone star Keith Duffy (BIG MAGGIE, Druid Theatre Company) is to make his London stage debut as Stapler. Joining Keith will be actors Ciarán Owens (OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR at Stratford East and OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD for Out of Joint) as Jimmy, Michael O'Connor (ONCE, Phoenix Theatre) as Swan and Brian Fenton (THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, Noel Coward Theatre) as Tony. Artistic Director Paul Robinson's production will run at Battersea's Theatre503 from Wednesday 30 April until Saturday 24 May 2014.

First performed in 1988, Billy Roche's A HANDFUL OF STARS is set in the Irish town of Wexford where 'shot-gun' weddings are outnumbered only by random acts of violence in the pool hall. The play was first presented as a stand alone in 1988, and then revived as part of the Wexford Trilogy at the Bush Theatre. The production is part of Theatre503's SECOND LOOK series, introduced by Paul Robinson to give major productions to neglected modern classics.

Completing the cast are Michael O'Hagan (ROMEO AND JULIET, Shakespeare's Globe) as Paddy, Colm Gormley (TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION, Royal Court), and newcomer Maureen O'Connell as Linda.

Keith Duffy is a singer, actor, and a radio/television presenter. Keith's previous stage credits include BIG MAGGIE (Druid Theatre Company) and DANDELIONS (The Olympia Theatre, Dublin). He is best known as a member of one of Ireland's biggest boybands - Boyzone, which he joined in 1993. Since then the band has gone on to release twenty-one singles and seven albums, resulting in twenty five million record sales and hundreds of sold out live tours. He moved into acting in 2002 joining the UK's biggest soap opera's -CORONATION STREET, where he played lovable Rovers Return barman Ciaran

Paul Robinson has been Joint-Artistic Director of the 60 seat new-writing venue in Battersea since 2006, before becoming sole Artistic Director in 2012. Theatre503 has built a strong reputation for staging plays by first time writers, launching the careers of playwrights such as Dennis Kelly, Anna Jordan and Chris Urch. In 2009 it became the smallest venue in the UK to receive an Olivier Award for Katori Hall's The Mountaintop, which successfully transferred to the West End and Broadway.

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