Two Minutes is a brand new comedy, premiering at The Civic Studio this February by debut writer Breda McCann. It tells the story of Billy and Trisha who each have one thing on their minds: Billy’s just mad for football and Trisha just wants two blue lines. How much pressure can one couple take? What happens if it doesn’t work out? Can Barry White save the day? One thing is for certain: two minutes can feel like a lifetime when your clock is ticking! We had a chat with Wayne Leitch who plays the part of ‘Billy’
Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where did you grow up?
I grew up on Templeville Drive in Templeogue, when that part of Dublin and its outer limits were a lot less busier than they are now. The entire world was a lot less busier then it seems. It was a great time and a great place to grow up. In the 70’s and 80’s street football was king not the Play Station and you could name every family on the street you lived in. You could also cycle everywhere without the fear of getting completely milled out of it on the roads. A world without mobile phones or wifi. Lord only knows how we survived??? 😀
Tell us about your acting background, have you always performed?
I started late enough at performing. I was in my late twenties and already a father of two young girls when I threw my hand at the stage back in the mid nineties. I initially played parts in a couple of great productions with Blue Moon Theatre group out in Dun Laoghaire. Shortly after, in 1998, while performing a small part in a play in Andrews Lane Theatre, I was asked to audition by Audrey Devereux of Greenlight Productions for Conor McPherson’s wonderfully gripping monologue, ‘The Good Thief’. It was a truly fantastic piece to perform. The production received very strong reviews and we then took it on from Dublin to the Arches Theatre in Glasgow the following year as part of an Irish festival of music and drama, where we received further accolades from critics in the Scottish press. They were exciting times. I took a long, long break from performance after that while my wife and trusty sidekick of 30 years, Colleen and myself raised our four beautiful daughters. The grá for treading the boards never leaves you though and after a 15 year hiatus, myself and Audrey met back up through Facebook and we decided to revise the Good Thief in 2014. It was a good decision. We enjoyed a great run of shows in Bewleys Theatre, The Mill Theatre in Dundrum, Cork Arts Theatre and at TBA Pop up at Carlow Arts Festival. On the back of that revised performance, a good friend of mine, the wonderful musician and songwriter, Celine Carroll passed me on her cousin Breda’s script and suggested it could be a good fit for me. It took a while for it all to come together, but here we are. (A big thank you goes out to Celine for passing on what is a great piece of work by Breda).
Tell us about ‘Two Minutes’ and your part in the play?
When I first read Two Minutes, I was sitting on a beach in Greece, toasting my buns. You know yourself when you are reading something for the first time, whether it is good, bad or indifferent. I remember after I finished reading it, I had a quick pinch of myself and turned to my wife and said ‘eh… this is kind of really, really good… this play’. She completely ignored me and I knew then and there at that very moment, that the part of Billy was written for me. ‘Two Minutes’ tells the story of a Dublin couple, Trisha and Billy, looking to conceive a baby and the trials and tribulations they experience during their IVF journey. Billy’s wife Trisha, will literally stop at nothing to get herself in the family way and her husband Billy is to all accounts, her long suffering means to that end. The play is really a complete hoot at times, but it is not devoid of its tender moments either. It’s got a great balance and I think people will immediately connect with the good messages that run through it.
What can Tallaght audiences expect from the show?
Laughs with a few tears thrown in too for good measure.
Tell us a random fact about yourself?
I randomly play the blues harmonica as often as I am allowed to.
What’s next for you?
I’m hoping that Breda writes another fantastic play and asks me to be in it. I am halfway through making a short film called ‘The Man Who Stole Hearts” . It is a poem brought to life through the medium of film. The poem is written by an incredibly talented artist, Rebeka Van Kan and is being produced and filmed by the as equally talented Graeme Wells. I play the ‘Heart Stealing Man’ in this one, who isn’t like Billy at all.
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The World Premiere of Two Minutes
11 – 15 Feb
LIMITED AVAILAIBILITY
CLICK HERE TO BOOK NOW
