Sharon Mannion is a worrisome child. She worries about the end of the world; about giant meteorites hurtling from the sky and destroying everything in their path, starting with Roscommon, where she is from. She worries about failing to live up to the expectations of her ex-showband father and of her Midwest FM radio-loving mother.
After finding an old tin whistle and discovering she can play, Sharon is swept up in a hysteria of attention and praise, but it’s not long before she craves higher glory.
With the encouragement of her parents, and because her name sounds a lot like Sharon Shannon, she revels in that glory, by way of the button accordion.
It’s love at first sight and she names the exotic instrument Frank. He becomes her comfort, her solace, her closest friend. Sharon soon discovers that everyone loves to hear his tune. But after beautiful beginnings, something shifts.
Under the pressure of competition, Sharon’s fingers fail to find the right notes. She’s the laughing stock of the town. Before long Sharon begins to suspect that this beautiful piece of craftsmanship isn’t all it seems. That it might be hell bent on her destruction. That Frank might even have her cursed…!’
This hilarious piece of theatre is written by and stars Castleplunkett born Sharon Mannion, who is an actor, comedian and improviser. Sharon recently finished filming the role of ‘Concepta’ on second series of ‘Bridget and Eamon’ on RTE 2, and has also appeared on ‘Callans Kicks’ (RTE), ‘Moone Boy’ (Sky 1), ‘Damo & Ivor’ (RTE), and ‘Republic of Telly’ (RTE) and is a founding member of sketch group Ghost Train Willy (Republic of Telly RTE).
The Curse of the Button Accordion went down a storm when it was performed in Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin last year and Roscommon Arts Centre are delighted to welcome Sharon to their stage for two nights on March 29th and 30th at 8pm nightly.
Book your tickets for The Curse of the Button Accordion now via the Arts Centre website or from Roscommon Arts Centre on 09066 25824.