The story of a released prisoner who turns up at his ex's home in a stolen van to try to win her back is re-told in hit play

Irish Independent

09-05-2025

But, one particular incident saw a van stolen from outside a premises in the town only for it to be recovered in Newport, some 43 kilometres away.
That incident – with names changed, for obvious reasons – sets the scene for 'Outlaw Pete', a play set in Ballinrobe that has won rave reviews in Galway, which debuts in Castlebar's Linenhall on May 22.
Pete, newly released from prison, arrives at the door of his ex-partner, Jane, in a van he stole from Ballinrobe, determined to win her back. Things get messier when it he learns that Jane now has two kids in an unhappy relationship with someone else.
What ensues is described as 'a powerful exploration of love, loyalty, and deception' with three complicated characters, culminating in a dramatic climax that has enthralled sold-out audiences in Galway's Town Hall Theatre.
Mick Donnellan is delighted to see his eighth play come back to the county that inspired its not-for-the-faint-hearted 18+ plot.
'It's set in Ballinrobe, and it has certain references to other places like Ballintubber, Westport and Castlebar is in there, Partry is in there, Galway is in there. People love to hear place,' Mick tells the Irish Independent.
'It's like Brian Friel and Faith Healer, it's all about the lyricism of the place. It's always an effective thing.'
Mick Donnellan is not unfamiliar with setting works of fiction in provincial Ireland. Four of his novels; Fishermans's Blues, Galway Blues, El Nino and The Dead Soup all shine a light on the more rugged side of life in Mayo, Galway and Athlone.
Outlaw Pete stars Carl Jones, Laura Hutchinson, Brian Cahill, and Carl Jones. The former two have strong Mayo connections, which is a plus in this kind of setting.
'They know the part and the material and the dialogue and the material of the story is quite Mayo, is quite rural, is quite west,' says Mick. 'It's just capturing a kind of a dialogue or a story or a sort of a hunger that some people have to hear their own community on the stage.'
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The plot, for reasons outlined above, isn't as daft as it seems either.
'If you watch a mafia film and it's all very slick and it's all very cool, but when you are in Ballinrobe it has the hallmarks of a gang feud and gang violence, but there is always a quirky Mayo side where they don't steal a Ferrari, they steal a flower van. There is always that kind of random sort of absurdity to it that I was trying to capture in the play as well,' he says.
'There is an issue at the moment with gang violence, but it's the way that it's interpreted that makes it creative and interesting to watch.'
The words 'gripping… riveting… powerful… hilarious… original… beautifully written… outstanding acting… superbly produced' accompanied reviews of Outlaw Pete after its Galway run.
Where to then after Linenhall?
'You never know. About ten years ago I wrote a play [Radio Luxembourg] that was supposed to be just a private reading just for a tester and I ended up selling the movie rights [Tiger Raid]. We shot it in Jordan as a war film, so you never know where it is going to go,' says Mick.
'I think I'd like to bring it [Outlaw Pete] again to Galway for the Galway Fringe [Festival], during the [Galway] Arts Festival, there's a fringe festival there as well that runs alongside it, I think that will be our next big hit.'
Outlaw Pete by Mick Donnellan will be performed in the Linenhall Arts Centre on Thursday, May 22 at 8pm.