They toured Ireland between the wars, putting up the tent in small towns and villages and playing to packed houses in the days before TV.
Even movies couldn't put the tent shows out of business. They bought second hand equipment and took silent movies to the provinces as part of cine-variety shows.
One of my earliest memories is of sitting in one of these tents, watching fascinated as moths fluttered around the sputtering oil lamps hanging from the rigging.
Only now, in retrospect, do I marvel at the dangerous combination of canvas and the naked flame, the marvellous thing being that there was never a fire.
Then I marvelled at the flickering patterns the hissing lamps made on the stretched canvas overhead, while a rapt audience wallowed in the harrowing adventures of the characters in ``Little Grey Home in the West' and ``The Red Barn". ``The Red Barn" was an especial favourite with Irish audiences. It told the tragic tale of an unwed teenage mother, murdered in the red barn of the title.
My grandmother's personal favourite was ``Little Grey Home in the West", where she got to play the dear old mother who sits at home and spins while she waits for her prodigal son's return.
I got to make my stage debut in one of these plays, the title long forgotten - but the plot involved a warring marital couple who eventually make peace. In my scene, I played their little girl, who ties their hands together with a ribbon to seal their reunion.There wasn't a dry eye in the house.
The audiences knew the lines as well as the actors, even better on some occassions. If an actor dried up, there would be a furtive prompt from the audience.
The patrons were often poor farmers or village people with no money to offer for admittance. But show people were happy to accept eggs, butter or bread in lieu of cash.
A dozen beautiful warm eggs straight out from under the hen could ensure a whole family the best seats in the house, and the hungry show people a supper that night.
And at least, that way, they couldn't throw the eggs if they didn't like the show.
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