This was a curious piece, based on Greek mythology, but set in a playground, with three characters and only two swings: Tim Loane, with whom I had worked on Wild Harvest, Lalor Roddy, and Chris Glover played the parts in a bare-boards production by Tinderbox in the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast. Lynne Parker directed.
This was my first time working in Belfast.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Wild Harvest (1989)
This was my first professional production. The Druid website has a production archive. Among many great performances, Mick Lally was superb; he presented me with a scroll after the opening. Blood, sweat and tears were the order of the day. Andy Hinds directed. I lifted this photograph from Druid's archive: I hope nobody minds: if they do, let me know and I'll remove it; or I could give a credit if I knew who took it...
Mick Lally (Larry) with J.D. Kelleher (Pat) in Wild Harvest
See www.irishplayography.com for cast, crew and design credits, and down-loadable script.
Mick Lally (Larry) with J.D. Kelleher (Pat) in Wild Harvest
See www.irishplayography.com for cast, crew and design credits, and down-loadable script.
When Critics Disagree (1987)
This was a compilation based on the works of Oscar Wilde. I put it together at the request of a cluster of Irish people in Paris (Johnny Granville - of Johnny's Irish Pub (Tigh Johnny) on rue Montmartre, Father Liam Swords - of the Irish College, and my sister, Stephanie, who had been living in France for some time).
I performed the show myself, and I was directed by Lorraine O'Donoghue.
We staged the show in the Actors' Centre on Ormonde Quay in Dublin - I recall one lunch-time when I stepped out onto the little stage and realised that there was a person in the audience ... just one.
This show was the main reason for the Paris trip that year. I did it in Johnny Granville's pub, with about a square yard of playing space.
I also performed it in Loreto Foxrock, but then it settled onto a quiet shelf.
I performed the show myself, and I was directed by Lorraine O'Donoghue.
We staged the show in the Actors' Centre on Ormonde Quay in Dublin - I recall one lunch-time when I stepped out onto the little stage and realised that there was a person in the audience ... just one.
This show was the main reason for the Paris trip that year. I did it in Johnny Granville's pub, with about a square yard of playing space.
I also performed it in Loreto Foxrock, but then it settled onto a quiet shelf.
Stan, Nick and Bod (1987)
The third early one-act: a version of Faust with an imp (Bod) with a fondness for Shakespeare. The deal is that Nick will provide story-lines in return for Stan's soul. Bod is supposed to provide the inspiration, but it turns out that all his stories have been done already, and Stan escapes with his soul intact, for the time being...
It was written for Brent Hearne, Johnny Reynolds and Peter Shannon. Apart from the amateur circuit, we were beginning to get ambitious, and we performed it in the Actors' Centre on Ormond Quay, along with Professional Help, as an evening double-bill, while I did When Critics Disagree as a lunchtime performance.
It was written for Brent Hearne, Johnny Reynolds and Peter Shannon. Apart from the amateur circuit, we were beginning to get ambitious, and we performed it in the Actors' Centre on Ormond Quay, along with Professional Help, as an evening double-bill, while I did When Critics Disagree as a lunchtime performance.
Professional Help (1986)
This was the second of the three one-acts which I wrote for Yew Troupe/Terenure Theatre: the differences between these two bodies were very important at the time, but there was a considerable overlap of personnel.
I suppose there must have been some influence from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but the story was all my fault. The premise was that the inmates might take over a small part of a psychiatric institution for a small time, and get away with it. The characters were written for Brent Hearne, Johnny Reynolds and Peter Shannon. We had a lot of fun with it. Apart from the amateur circuit in 1986, Professional Help was one of the pieces which we brought to The Irish College, Paris in 1987 (I played Val as Brent wasn't able to join us)
I suppose there must have been some influence from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but the story was all my fault. The premise was that the inmates might take over a small part of a psychiatric institution for a small time, and get away with it. The characters were written for Brent Hearne, Johnny Reynolds and Peter Shannon. We had a lot of fun with it. Apart from the amateur circuit in 1986, Professional Help was one of the pieces which we brought to The Irish College, Paris in 1987 (I played Val as Brent wasn't able to join us)
Romantic Ireland (1986)
This was my first full-length play.
I wrote it for the teenagers in Terenure Youth Club. It was a moral tale about American secret agents locating a nuclear missile in a church bell-tower by duping the parish priest. I wrote it around the time Knock Airport was built, and people were wondering if there was more than met the eye to having a nice big airstrip so close to the Atlantic.
I remember that my Dad, Tim, came to the show, although he was very sick with cancer. He died later that year. I was always glad that he got to see a couple of things I wrote. Speaking to me from his hospital bed, at a time when it was clear that he was not going to get better, he half-pleaded with me to go for comedy whenever possible; there was enough to be sad about in the world, and people need to laugh.
I wrote it for the teenagers in Terenure Youth Club. It was a moral tale about American secret agents locating a nuclear missile in a church bell-tower by duping the parish priest. I wrote it around the time Knock Airport was built, and people were wondering if there was more than met the eye to having a nice big airstrip so close to the Atlantic.
I remember that my Dad, Tim, came to the show, although he was very sick with cancer. He died later that year. I was always glad that he got to see a couple of things I wrote. Speaking to me from his hospital bed, at a time when it was clear that he was not going to get better, he half-pleaded with me to go for comedy whenever possible; there was enough to be sad about in the world, and people need to laugh.
Atlas (1984)
Atlas was my first play.
It arose out of a conversation with Brent Hearne one night in the Terenure Inn: we were looking for one-acts to take on the Amateur Drama League circuit, but we were not familiar with many scripts, so we thought we'd have a go at writing one ourselves. We agreed to take a stab at it and see what happened. I went into work the next day and found (?) some spare time to put down a few ideas, and "Atlas" began to take shape. I wrote a first draft, and we had a reading for ourselves, with Brent, Peter Shannon and Johnny Reynolds, all members of Yew Troupe at the time, in Peter's house. I think Frank Byrne might have sat in as well out of curiosity. We agreed that it needed more substance, so I went away and wrote some more, creating the woman's character, which Sandra Burke (no relation/different spelling) played.
I directed the show and we took it on the circuit. Maybe we did a performance for the local audience first, in St. Joseph's Parish Hall in Terenure; that was our base. Johnny drove a butchers' van which we used to transport the simple set. The two performances that stand out in my mind are the night in the Moat Club, Naas, when Betty Ann Norton took a shine to the script, and my parents came up from Quinsboro - they were there for the weekend - to see it, and the trip to Maudabawn near Cootehill, through endless dark, and a busy night afterwards in The White Horse - I'm also thinking of a night when Des Braiden adjudicated in Maudabawn, but I think that might have been a couple of years later.
It arose out of a conversation with Brent Hearne one night in the Terenure Inn: we were looking for one-acts to take on the Amateur Drama League circuit, but we were not familiar with many scripts, so we thought we'd have a go at writing one ourselves. We agreed to take a stab at it and see what happened. I went into work the next day and found (?) some spare time to put down a few ideas, and "Atlas" began to take shape. I wrote a first draft, and we had a reading for ourselves, with Brent, Peter Shannon and Johnny Reynolds, all members of Yew Troupe at the time, in Peter's house. I think Frank Byrne might have sat in as well out of curiosity. We agreed that it needed more substance, so I went away and wrote some more, creating the woman's character, which Sandra Burke (no relation/different spelling) played.
I directed the show and we took it on the circuit. Maybe we did a performance for the local audience first, in St. Joseph's Parish Hall in Terenure; that was our base. Johnny drove a butchers' van which we used to transport the simple set. The two performances that stand out in my mind are the night in the Moat Club, Naas, when Betty Ann Norton took a shine to the script, and my parents came up from Quinsboro - they were there for the weekend - to see it, and the trip to Maudabawn near Cootehill, through endless dark, and a busy night afterwards in The White Horse - I'm also thinking of a night when Des Braiden adjudicated in Maudabawn, but I think that might have been a couple of years later.
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