Oh yes he is - Lowry to star in panto

THE INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry is to perform in a pantomime to be staged in his hometown of Thurles next Sunday.

THE INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry is to perform in a pantomime to be staged in his hometown of Thurles next Sunday.

The former Fine Gael minister and poll-topping TD for the Tipperary North constituency will appear in The Pied Piper at the town’s Source Arts Centre.

He said yesterday he was “looking forward to the occasion”.

The community pantomime, with a cast of 60, is based on the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale about the town of Hamelin.

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In the Tipperary version, Mr Lowry will play the “Good Mayor” who is drugged into a deep sleep by “Mayor Ghastly” who takes over the town.

The theatre’s artistic director, Claudia Woolgar, said Mr Lowry was “a very good sport to do it”. She explained that Mr Lowry will appear on stage “in bed” and then be awoken “by magic” to berate the people for their short-sightedness in choosing a mayor “who can’t cope”.

He will spend “about 10-15 minutes on stage” and, after saving the children and restoring Hamelin /Thurles to a happy state, will participate in a medley of Christmas songs.

The pantomime has been running all week but Mr Lowry’s “guest performance” is a “one-off”.

Michael Parsons

Michael Parsons

Michael Parsons is a contributor to The Irish Times writing about fine art and antiques