BANDON — In the western boroughs of Ireland in 1965, 50 cents would buy the service of the town crier. He’d ring his bell and cry the play about to start in the parish house at the Catholic church.

The price of a pack of cigarettes, 35 cents, would buy a seat to the two-person show featuring Vivian Connolly, “Man v. Woman: The Epic Battle.”

“I always thought, ‘Isn’t it great to get to be another person,’” Connolly said about acting.

So Connolly played characters from across the ages, across the country, across the Atlantic. She’s made her living as a psychiatric nurse and a writer and wherever she pitched her tent, she shared her passion for theater with the community.

She came to Bandon with two suitcases and a cat. It was the Bandon Playhouse that welcomed her town.

She moved here in 2005, the same week the Playhouse held auditions for “Still Life” by Noel Coward. Connolly joined the cast. Connolly now organizes monthly play readings just for fun at the newly remodeled Bandon Community Center, aka The Barn.

For playreader Barbara Eakley, Connolly’s generosity is part of what makes the Bandon Play Readers worthwhile.

“It’s fun to get to know someone who has such a varied background and education,” Eakley said. “She’s a wonderful font of information. She’s exposed us to so many plays.”

Connolly describes herself as a gypsy. She always wanted to travel, meet people and accumulate life experiences. Connolly first traveled to Ireland in the early 1950s where she trained in psychiatric nursing, a field she would pursue until retirement.

Lounging with one foot on the sofa, Connolly said, “It’s been a kind of wandering life.”

She punctuated her time in urban settings such as New York City and San Francisco with forays into rural life. She toured western Ireland in her VW actor’s caravan for a season, took a race horse freighter across the English Channel and wound her way to Spain, drew water from a spring outside her adobe farmhouses in Taos, N.M., or simply pitched a tent in the wilderness.

“I’ve hit some of the modern bohemias,” Connolly remarked.

Play reader Claire McLaughlin joined the group because she wanted theatrical experience without the actual stage. Now she helps post flyers and looks forward to each month’s session — and Connolly.

“Vivian can read anything,” said McLaughlin. “If there’s an English maid (in the script), suddenly she has the right accent, the right cadence, posture. The group is really her baby, and she’s made an atmosphere where everyone is welcome.”