A pint of Guinness at the world famous St. James’s Gate Brewery, evening strolls through the misty streets and lush countryside, and meeting locals to learn the Irish brogue firsthand are all in a day’s work for actor John Innes as he prepares for his role in Rosebud Theatre’s spring production.
    Innes, a 45-year veteran of the stage and screen, and a graduate of the National Theatre School, will play Tony Reilly in John Patrick Shanley’s Outside Mullingar, a romantic comedy set in the farming community of Killucan (kill-OO-can), just outside Mullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland.
    On a recent research holiday to Ireland, Innes stayed at the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar (notable for its mentions in James Joyce’s Ulysses) and absorbed local customs and history with a respected local historian. “We spent an entire day doing a walking tour,” Innes said. “During that time, I recorded her so the women in the play could hear her authentic Mullingar accent.”
    The play, Outside Mullingar, is in turns laugh-out-loud funny and riveting family drama, and tells the story of a nearly confirmed bachelor and his torch-bearing love interest. Innes plays the father, Tony, who’s at the twilight of his life and is torn between passing the farm down to his hardworking but eccentric son (who will likely never marry) and selling to an American nephew who will continue the family bloodline. Playwright Shanley, the award-winning author of Moonstruck (starring Cher) and Doubt, wrote the play as an homage to his own childhood.
    “Killucan is about the size of, but a little busier than, Rosebud,” said Innes. “I actually walked out to the family homestead of John Patrick Shanley, from which the story of the play derives. These experiences gave me a more visceral understanding of the community and the characters we are portraying. As I go to rehearsal every day, I carry with me images and memories that are an experienced reality.”
    Joining Innes onstage in Rosebud Theatre’s production is Guest Artist Judith Buchan as the recently-widowed Aoife (EE-fah) Muldoon (Marilla in Rosebud Theatre’s Anne of Green Gables), and Resident Company members Paul F. Muir (The Miracle Worker, Our Town) playing the duty-bound dreamer Anthony Reilly, and Heather Pattengale (Our Town, My Name is Asher Lev) as Rosemary Muldoon, Anthony’s tenacious torch-bearing neighbour.

    The Heart to Heart Society  was established  in 1999 with the intent of raising funds to help in the rehabilitation process of victims of heart disease.    
    On Tuesday, March 29, Heart to Heart Society of Drumheller President, Trevor Gough, spoke with inSide Drumheller about the annual Walk-a-thon to raise funds for the Drumheller Hospital Foundation.
    Each year, since 1999, the Society holds a fundraiser for rehab program for the Drumheller Hospital Foundation.  The Foundation makes a suggested list of specific equipment needed by the rehabilitation unit, that is used by patients  with heart disease.
    This year, Heart to Heart’s goal  is to raise $4,000 for the  purchase of two machines, a Respiratory BiPAP Machine and an Automated Emergency Defibrillator.  
    President Gough said, “Heart to Heart Society has raised $325,000 for the Rehab Program at the hospital and has purchased all of their equipment.”  
    “Without this program, patients would have to travel to Calgary and pay for the usage, upwards of $600.  The Drumheller rehab is absolutely free for residents to use.” said Heart to Heart Treasurer Flo Moffat.  
     The Walk-a-thon is being held April 13 at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) and participants can walk, jog, run, use stationary bikes or treadmills, as long as you are being active.  It will start at 8:00 am and ends at 1:00.  There will be a check-in table, manned by Heart to Heart past-president Tom Diprose.
    Pledge forms are available at Ascent Financial and at the information desk at the  BCF.
    Contact board members to pledge your support 403-820-1887.