Munster Express Online

This October marks Bryan Flynn’s 20th year of working in theatre and, marking the occasion, his new show The ALL STAR Wars opens at the Theatre Royal in his native Waterford next week. Taking a sideways glance at the nation’s number one obsession, the ancient game of hurling, the show is to GAA what I Keano was to soccer and Alone it Stands to rugby.

The ALL STAR Wars follows the adventures of Hugh Cullen, family man, GAA club man and all-round lost cause. After receiving a knock on the head from the business end of a hurley, Hugh Cullen is visited from the year 3012 by the enigmatic Obi Wan Camogie. What follows, according to critics, is an epic saga of Hurleys, Heroes and Hang Sangwidges!!

So did GAA, Hang Sandwiches and all, play a particularly notable role in Bryan’s own Deise upbringing?

“Apart from playing hurling in De la Salle primary school as a child, I was never talented as a sportsperson. But I have always had a great interest in Waterford hurling and was thrilled to see the De La Salle College teams do so well under the coaching of my first cousin Derek McGrath in recent times. I can remember going to see Derek play when he was only 7 or 8 years of age and even then he had an amazing gift and passion for hurling. As a Waterford man living in Cork I was heartbroken to see the Deise lads beaten by Tipp in the Munster final at Pairc i Chaoimh this year, but with all the talent on the way up it’s surely only a matter of time before the Deise get their hands on that elusive Liam McCarthy cup.”