Casting Call for No Magic Pill - a play based on the life of Martin Naughton

Disabled actor sought for No Magic Pill stage play for Irish tour from 7 - 23 November 2024. 

Male actors with physical impairments (30+) are invited to audition to play the lead character, Martin, in No Magic Pill, a stage play inspired by the life of disability activist Martin Naughton.

Magic Pill Productions will present an Irish tour of the award-winning play, by Christian O’Reilly, between 7 and 23 November 2024 in Galway, Longford, Ennis and Dublin.

Auditions will be held by director Raymond Keane, writer/producer Christian O’Reilly and outreach producer Peter Kearns.Those auditioning will ideally have some theatre experience but the producers are also very open to considering candidates who believe they have performance ability.

In casting disabled actors, Magic Pill Productions would like to continue to challenge the traditional stereotype within Irish drama of depicting disabled people as either objects of pity or inspiration. No Magic Pill aims to bring a fresh conversation and disability aesthetic to Irish theatre.

Anyone who wishes to be considered to audition should send their CV, or a letter outlining their experience to date, to casting@nomagicpill.ie. The deadline for expressions of interest is Thursday, 23 May.  Selected candidates will be invited to attend an audition on Wednesday 5 June at the Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) office, Carmichael House, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7.

No Magic Pill 

No Magic Pill is a ground-breaking play by award-winning playwright Christian O’Reilly. Inspired by Galway-native and wheelchair-user Martin Naughton, leader of the disability rights movement in Ireland (who passed away in 2016), the production broke new ground in Irish theatre in 2022 in its casting of disabled actors. It tells the heartfelt, hilarious, irreverent, stereotype-shattering story of one man's anarchic quest for both justice and love.

No Magic Pill is the story of an activist … but it is also a love story. Martin is a man at war with the Government, with society, but, above all else, with himself - and at this crisis point in his life, which road will he choose? Will his fight for equality be derailed by dreams of lifelong love and distant shores?

The production premiered on 28 September 2022 at the Black Box Theatre in Galway. It will undertake an Irish tour from 7-23 November, 2024 to the Town Hall Theatre, Galway; Glór, Ennis; Backstage, Longford and The Civic, Tallaght, Dublin.

No Magic Pill is funded by the Arts Council and is presented in association with Independent Living Movement Ireland, Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disability Federation of Ireland. Magic Pill Productions would also like to acknowledge the support of Town Hall Theatre, The Civic, glór, Backstage and The Glens Arts Centre.

ENDS