Irish TV host and stand up comedian Patrick Kielty makes his acting debut in the West End in October in a new production of A Night In November. Marie Jones's comedy is staged at the Trafalgar Studio 1, previewing from 15 October and opening on 22 October. The production is currently booking until 1 December.
Kielty plays myriad characters in the piece which follows Kenneth McCallister, a man whose life changes when he finds himself on the terraces for the crucial Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland football match. As his long held beliefs are drawn into question, McCallister leaves Belfast, crosses the border for the first time and takes a trip to the US to support the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup. Suddenly he realises what it truly means to be Irish.
Kielty, who first performed one-man show A Night In November at the Grand Opera House in Belfast this August, grew up in County Down, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles central to the play's plot. His father, a Catholic businessman, was murdered in a tit-for-tat killing when Kielty was only 16.
Kielty is best known for hosting television shows including Fame Academy and Love Island, but started out as a stand up, a role he returned to last year with his No Woman No Cry tour.
A Night In November writer Marie Jones is best known for Stones In His Pockets which ran in the West End for four years between 2000 and 2004, winning two Laurence Olivier Awards in the process and returning again in 2006. The production is directed by Jones's husband Ian McElhinney.
MA