Pictured at the movie premiere ‘Staid’ in the National Opera House were Stephen Murphy, Paul O’Brien, Adrienne Meyler, Paul Creane, Michael Londra. Pic: Jim Campbell

A HUGE crowd packed into the National Opera House for the premier of ‘Staid’, the first film endeavour by local author and playwright Paul O’Brien.

There was standing room only in the lobby of the Opera House as “half the town” piled in to get an exclusive glimpse at the film which enjoyed its national premier at the Audi Dublin Film Festival the previous week.

Fast-forward a few days and the National Opera House had the atmosphere of a party and the crowd of opening night of the festival, leaving just the odd empty seat dotted around the house.

The film, which is an adaptation of a play written by Mr. O’Brien, features the same cast that brought it to life in the Sky and the Ground pub during the Opera Festival of 2014.

Adrienne Meyler, Phil Lyons, Stephen Murphy and Paul Creane all excel on the screen and create likeable characters that you can laugh, cry and empathise with.

Shot almost entirely in the Sky and the Ground pub and in the immediate area, the film conveys that sense of feeling trapped perfectly and the soundtrack, most of which was from the repertoire of Paul Creane, added an extra element of soul to the piece.

Speaking from the stage, Mr. O’Brien pointed out that the film had been a collective project which was made for approximately €300. He said bringing it back to his home town to show it to such a huge home audience gave him a very special buzz.

“The movie happened when I, the cast and Highwind Media got together and thought about doing a film. None of us had a clue of how to do it, we figured it out as we went along. We premiered in Dublin and people seemed to like it so we hope that the home town crowd will like it as well.”

Judging from the standing ovation as the credits rolled, it seemed that Wexford very much enjoyed the debut film from the Maudlintown man.