Frank Talbot: A True ‘Irish Troubadour’
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Frank Talbot, who makes his home in Calgary, Alberta, wrote and directed the play Gortnamona, which was presented at the Tom Lee Music Hall in Vancouver as part of CelticFest Celebrations in March. The play is based on the life and times of the celebrated Irish writer Percy French.
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| FRANK TALBOT |
Many people are familiar with the songs of Percy French, but not many would know about his other talents or indeed his life history. I spoke with Frank after the presentation of Gortnamona and asked him what prompted him to write the play.
“Percy French was always a champion of mine, even from the time I was a small kid,” he said, “I used to say, one day I’m going to write a play about Percy French, because over the years nobody had ever written the definitive of the man.
“Brendan O’Dowd, the well-known Irish tenor sings all his songs, but nobody ever seemed to tell Percy French’s life story. I was actually working on another play when my wife Moira persuaded me not to do it because she thought it was too depressing. She encouraged me to write what I had always said I wanted to write.
“The timing was just right for me to write the play. In fact the very first week when I started mapping it out and getting my information and research together, I began getting more and more excited. In three weeks I had it completed. I contacted Anne Cowman and she and I became co-producers and we assembled a professional cast of actors in Calgary.
“I decided on the title Gortnamona for the play because that is the most pivotal moment of Percy French’s life. Not only does his wife die in childbirth, but their baby girl died also. So it was a double whammy.
“Gortnamona is a Gaelic word that means ‘a field of turf.’ I loved the tone of Gortnamona, the sound of it and that it causes people to wonder. As soon as they see the show, you know collectively they’re saying, ‘ah...now we know why he called it Gortnamona. It all comes together. That’s the story of it.”
Frank Talbot already has the title for his next play – Dis, Dat, Dese and Dose (This, That, These and Those). “The Irish are known for not being able to pronounce th's...it's really a re_hash of a lot of comedy stuff,” Frank explained. “The actual humour will be broad, since I don't like private jokes, so that anyone in the audience will be able to understand it.”
Talbot has an interesting and varied background. He was born in a small village called Sallynoggin, a small hamlet outside Dun Laoghaire which is a seaside port. “When I grew up in Sallynoggin,” said Frank, “it was a small hamlet of about 200 people surrounded by woods and trees.
“Now, it’s like everything else, there’s no end to the amount of council estates that are being built. There is hardly an ounce of green left there. I’m not knocking it, but it’s not the same place that I grew up in.”
He was a member of the Garda Síochána in Dublin for 10 years. Afterwards, he went to sea and later worked as a technician in a high school in Scotland.
Frank’s wife Moira is from the Highlands of Scotland, 100 miles north of Inverness, and the area is noted for its absolutely knockout beautiful scenery. Frank said, “it was a great place to bring up my five girls. It’s like the west of Ireland, you couldn’t find a more beautiful spot, but there’s no future there.
“Once the girls started getting into their teenage years, I realized I had to get them out of there. I worked at the same high school that my girls went to and over the years I saw these kids, particularly the girls. One minute they’re students, the next minute they’re pushing prams!
“That seemed to be the rural thing. There was a lot of chauvinism and it still goes on there. A woman’s place is in the home. A husband will go down to the pub, while his wife stays home to look after the kids. I thought, I’m not going to bring my daughters up here.”
Frank’s sister lived in Calgary and his decision to move “wasn’t for the love of wanting to emigrate,” he said, “because I’d had enough travel when I was at sea, but it seemed the right thing to do. And so that’s how we came to Calgary.”
It was while he living in Scotland that Frank became interested in theatre. He said, “drama clubs were a big thing. We didn’t have cinemas and television wasn’t all that popular. Every village within a radius had a drama club and, of course, they all competed with each other.
“The standard of acting was just unbelievable. I was the novelty up there because I was the ‘Paddy.’ In fact, I became a drum major in a Highland pipe band. It was only because I was an actor that I could do all that stuff.
“When I came to Canada, I formed a group called The Wild Rose Players, and as vain as it might sound, we were the forerunners in Calgary to community theatre.”
Frank Talbot is also a painter and has worked in watercolors. He also has another unique talent for creating pictures made with tweed fabric which look like paintings but they are not a collage.
The PAL organization, the Performing Arts Lodges has recognized Frank’s many talents. They have accepted Frank and Moire into the PAL Lodge which overlooks the stunning Coal Harbour in Vancouver. They will be moving in some time in July or August.
Needless to say, Frank is estatic about the move and said, “there’s more opportunity for me in Vancouver, although Calgary is coming up in leaps and bounds. I see no end to the opportunities for me in Vancouver. All of the material that I’ve been doing for years will be fresh here, along with my painting. It’s all very exciting.”
Percy French was known as an “Irish Troubadour.” It was a very common title in the old days which embodied everything from actor, entertainer and composer. Frank Talbot has named his production company, Celtic Troubadours of Calgary Productions. In many ways, Frank Talbot is a true “Irish Troubadour,” and what a great addition he will bring to the Vancouver artistic community.
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For more information about Celtic Troubadours of Calgary Productions, visit their website at: www.ctcproductions.org. The theatre company has a bookings page where people can contact them by e-mail if they want to discuss arranging a performance of either Gortnamona or A Night in November. Contact Anne Cowman at anne.cowman@ctcproductions.org for Gortnamona requests, and Bruce Smith at bruce.smith@ctcproductions.org for A Night in November requests.
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