The ‘Killinaskully’ stars in the three-part series directed by Kerry filmmaker Gerard Barrett, which engages with the topic of emigration in Ireland.
Shortt portrays Charlie Kelly whose son who has emigrated to London. The narrative follows Conor and friend Fergus’ emotional experience of leaving home and returning to troubled families and a changed Ireland.
In this timely drama, the two men are forced to ask themselves key questions about their sense of belonging. Barret recently stated that the themes in ‘Smalltown’ are consistent with his previous features. He stated:
“For me it’s a continuation of what I’ve been doing with 'Pilgrim Hill' and 'Glassland' shining a light on issues in Ireland — not in any moral way or anything like that, but purely in what I see going on around me in my own life and in my own community… “I’ve a strong affinity to rural Ireland, it’s where I come from, it’s who I am. I’ll always go back and tell rural Ireland stories.”
‘Smalltown’ premieres on TV3 Thursday September 1st at 10pm. The series also stars Pauline O’Driscoll, Stephen O’Leary, Sean Fox, Rose O’Loughlin, Ewen Macintosh, Saffron Hocking, Muiris Crowley, Kieran Boland and Jade O’Connor.
Shortt’s upcoming work also includes comedy ‘The Flag’ directed by Declan Recks, which was recently acquired by Element Pictures Distribution. ‘The Flag’ releases to Irish cinemas on Friday October 14th.
'Smalltown' is produced by Blank Page Productions.