THE STORY: THE CAVALCADERS is a wistful memory play, set in a Wexford cobbler’s shop, where four small-town shoemakers make the mundane marvelous as they transform themselves nightly into The Cavalcaders, a singing quartet that prides itself on harmony, comic patter and romantic sentiment. The play blends music and comedy with a brutally honest depiction of emotional warfare and personal betrayal as we witness the group, and particularly its leader Terry, disintegrate before our very eyes. Terry, whose wife deserted him many moons ago, feels unworthy of the love and affection that is heaped all around him. Rejecting it, he propels himself into a cruel and tragic affair with a young, vulnerable woman who adores him. Relief comes for him in the form of The Cavalcaders as they meet to rehearse at night in the little shoemakers shop. Hidden behind the harmony, though, lies discord as treachery, betrayal, guilt and sin lurk in the shadowy corners of their little lives.
“…Roches’ most accomplished work, combining as it does a great simplicity of purpose with a deft complexity of form…an exquisite gem of a play.” —Irish Times.
“No reservations, no qualifications:This is a superb play.” —Irish Evening Press.
“A deeply touching and intelligent play…[Roche] demonstrates again that he is the subtlest, deftest talent to have emerged this decade on either side of the Irish Sea."” —The Times (London).
