24. Travelling Roadshow Site, Esker.
Travelling Roadshow Site, Esker.
There was a time when fit-ups were an integral part of the theatrical scene in Ireland. For over a century, travelling companies visited small towns, villages, rural communities that had no established theatres of their own, melodrama, pantomime, films and circus, as well as a touch of glamour, glitter and excitement, to people who would otherwise never have had the opportunity to enjoy live shows.
Fit-ups more or less died out with the establishment of permanent theatres and cinemas. And so we saw the last of the great Irish companies on the road in the late 1960s. The coming of television had finally killed off the travelling troupers. (The Irish Examiner Wed, 18 Jul, 2012).
Fit-ups were a regular entertainment event in Skehana, located in the townland of Esker on the roadside between Skehana Church and Skehana Community Centre. One of the most thorough and detailed features on the travelling roadshows here locally in Skehana and much further afield is accessible on this site at the link below:
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