Little John Nee is Sparkplug Callaghan.
ONE of Donegal’s favourite performers, Little John Nee returns with his character Sparkplug Callaghan in an all new show for this year’s Earagail Arts Festival this weekend.
In his brand new one man show, Sparkplug, Little John brings back his highly entertaining showman, songster and storymaker, Sparkplug Callaghan.
A new commission for the Earagail Arts Festival 2012, Sparkplug is a comic rock’n’roll odyssey and for Little John Nee, the culmination of a lifetime in comic storytelling and musical performance.
Anyone who saw Little John’s show The Mother’s Arms at last year’s festival will remember Sparkplug who also featured in the Letterkenny native’s children’s show A Bag Of Queen’s, Ireland’s most exciting show about…potatoes.
Sparkplug washes his face in fresh rainwater every day – is this the secret to his devilish good looks? Recently returned to the rural townland of Tullyglen, Sparkplug now lives in his Uncle George’s barn; beaten and bruised by the unrelenting forces of recessionary misery he struggles to keep the van on the twisted road… and to keep her lit.
Little John said: “Sparkplug is saving up to emigrate to New York. He’s still playing excellent music in absurd locations and is presently preparing to perform at Tullyglen Vintage Fun Day.”
Another character who appeared in Little John’s shows The Battle Of Jah Kettle and The Mental is John Boyle who also makes a welcome return.
“The townland of Tullyglen appeared in my show Country and Irish and variations of the character Mary Duffy have appeared in most of my shows,” he said.
Little John said Sparkplug is a very musical show with songs and incidental ambient sounds played on a variety of intriguing instruments and employing looping pedals.
Sparkplug is a tonic for the times; treat yourself to a cheap holiday in the bizarre world of Sparkplug Callaghan, a rural landscape inhabited by Buddhist bluesmen, freaky farmers, psychedelic preachers and happy hens.
Little John Nee’s show will be staged at Ramelton Town Hall Theatre, Friday, July 13 and Sunday, July 15, at Letterkenny’s An Grianán Theatre. Call the festival box office on Tel 07491 20777.