Charlene casts a spell on Gaiety

Charlene McKenna needs no introduction because the actor who hails from the picturesque village of Glaslough, Monaghan, has starred in feature films and serial dramas alike; but at the moment she is treading the boards of the Gaiety Theatre in ‘The Crucible’, set in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials. The show’s run started on February 9 and will run until March 21.

Charlene was cast in the role of Elizabeth Proctor, a real person in the Salem Witch Trials.

Asked what attracted her to the production and the role, she told The Anglo-Celt: “It’s work in a prestigious theatre. Arthur Millar’s play is iconic, a classic – with Andrew Flint directing. Elizabeth Proctor is an interesting character. It’s an incredible role and a challenge. It’s the first time in a while I was like, ‘I’m not sure how I’m going to do this!’

“We audition for everything. I’m 20-odd years doing it now, but nearly everything is an audition,” the ‘Raw’ star said, but in this case, she was offered the role, having previously collaborated with the director, who thought she would inhabit the character of Elizabeth well. “They also offered the role of Elizabeth’s husband to my husband [Adam] – so it was a no-brainer!” she explained.

Acting is one of the toughest professions there is and Charlene does eight shows a week: “I’m off today (Tuesday), but to make up for that, we have two shows tomorrow, two shows Thursday, two shows Saturday, and then a Friday and Sunday matinee.”

Each show is three-hours long, including a half-hour interval.

“You just go into that world for the duration of the run and then take every vitamin you can find!” the hardworking actor revealed.

Ms McKenna has done it all, so the Celt wanted to know whether she preferred stage or screen.

“I know the correct answer is to say theatre,” she laughed, “but I don’t have a preference. There is so much I love about both. I love that on stage - it is so immediate and visceral. It can’t be edited. Once you’re out there, you’re on your own. There can be intimacy in theatre.

“The audience is right there with you, in this scene, in this moment that will never be repeated. In a world of AI, and the kind of vast loneliness that’s being experienced, there’s something about all those people together, all that energy… that’s really thrilling,” Charlene explained.

The County Monaghan elaborated on why she also loves TV and film. As an actor, she felt it was important to experience both: “Likewise, I love the intimacy of a camera. If you nail that one performance, they have it, you hope. It’s nice that it’s immortalised that way.”

Charlene also enjoys the camaraderie on set and doesn’t mind surrendering control to the director and editor, who put together what she described as a “magic jigsaw”.

Charlene’s family own The Pillar House in Glaslough and she still has a home close by. The chatty, warm and engaging actor is very down to earth and she credits her rearing with that: “I came from a very practical, funny and level-headed kind of family. I had a very honest, even-keeled upbringing in the place I grew up. I couldn’t imagine losing that, I wouldn’t want to. Thank God, the head stayed on my shoulders.”

Sometimes Charlene gets to meet and chat with audience members after the show and recently an active retirement group from Monaghan travelled up to see one of their own on stage: “I think there was a whole bus, 40-something people came up to one of the matinees. It was the warmest response. It was just so lovely. The support doesn’t go unnoticed.”

The actor felt that ‘The Crucible’ is still relevant today: “It’s sadly very present to our times now. Even though it’s a story from 1692, it feels important that we tell it now. It hadn’t been on in Ireland in a really long time. Arthur Miller wrote it in the ‘50s as a response to the Red Scare (An intense period of anti-Communist hysteria in the US).

“History just keeps repeating itself. I have no solve. Theatre and art are meant to make people talk, so we can hopefully get people to talk about it on the way home. People were very moved.

“The play itself explores mass hysteria, fear, group mentality and a powerless people who are manipulated by corruption. There’s so many parallels. Some of the people in the play are really trying to speak truth to power, and it is just not being heard.”

While ‘The Crucible’ is made-up of a massive composite of people, in its essence, it’s a true story.

“It’s heartbreaking that a story from 1692 is completely relevant in 2026, but unfortunately it just is,” the actor commented.

Charlene doesn’t know what’s next: “The industry is in quite a critical state at the minute, so you’re definitely not taking anything at all for granted.

“I mean, there’s a lot less work and a lot more competition. I will be happy to sleep for a wee while. I have to go where the work takes me and hopefully get it, like a lot of people. I am in my theatre era!”

As our conversation comes to a close, Charlene was asked if she had anything to add for our readers. Barely drawing breath, she quipped: “Up Monaghan!”